O.T. Anyone having problems with Dorian?

[stamfordhusky]

That's based on recent history. In the '50s CT was whacked by a number of serious hurricanes. Carol, in particular took a path right up the Connecticut River. When we drove into E Hartford the day after, Main St was still a foot deep in water. She's why the levees are so high now. There's no reason why a sequence like the '50s can't happen again.

Here's a link from the CT Post about the major wind events since The Long Island Express in '38 (before they gave the storms names).

The rare CT hurricane is serious for those in its path. But they do a VERY small fraction of the damage seen in the Gulf states and the South Atlantic states during their more frequent storms. In total, as was pointed out before, Connecticut - over any time period measured - has FAR less loss due to weather than do many other states.

Btw, according to NOAA records, Connecticut only had one hurricane hit the state during the decade of the 1950's: Carol, which was a Category 3 at landfall.

 

[mbr33ct]

 

[stamfordhusky]

Since 1950, Connecticut has seen four hurricanes make landfall. Three were Category 1's.

 

[winlots]

Since 1950, Connecticut has seen four hurricanes make landfall. Three were Category 1's.

STAMF: good posts and interesting data.

 

[j66kicker]

This isn’t data - just my own anecdotal experience. I moved to CT in 1985. 2 months later we had Hurricane Gloria. I was skeptical when they sent us home from work early - until two 100+ ft white pines uprooted, rearranged my back deck and dramatically altered the contour of my long asphalt driveway. At that point I just watched from the kitchen window as the tops of the larger white pines in back broke off and blew by horizontally. A couple of them stuck in the ground 4 ft deep when they landed. Had to get a ride to buy a chainsaw, and 2 days later was able to get out of my driveway.

In the years after that ice storms continued to destroy the white pines and rearrange the landscape, including downing the power lines on their way down. I loved living in CT. But I have lived where it was colder, hotter, more snow, more rain, but nowhere where there was more damage from the weather.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Here are the ten "worst" hurricanes in recorded U.S. history, based on the estimated damage that the same storm would cause in 2017:

Rank	Date	Event	Category	2017 insured loss
1	Sep. 18, 1926	Great Miami Hurricane	4	$128
2	Sep. 17, 1928	Okeechobee Hurricane	4	78
3	Aug. 29, 2005	Hurricane Katrina	3 (2)	64
4	Sep. 17, 1947	1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane	4	62
5	Sep. 9, 1965	Hurricane Betsy	4 (2)	57
6	Aug. 24, 1992	Hurricane Andrew	5	56
7	Sep. 10, 1960	Hurricane Donna	4	50
8	Sep. 21, 1938	The Great New England Hurricane	3	50
9	Sep. 9, 1900	1900 Galveston Hurricane	4	49
10	Aug. 17, 1915	1915 Galveston Hurricane

Interesting that only two have occurred in the past 50 years and only one in the past 25 years.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Here are the ten "worst" hurricanes in recorded U.S. history, based on the estimated damage that the same storm would cause in 2017:

Rank	Date	Event	Category	2017 insured loss
1	Sep. 18, 1926	Great Miami Hurricane	4	$128
2	Sep. 17, 1928	Okeechobee Hurricane	4	78
3	Aug. 29, 2005	Hurricane Katrina	3 (2)	64
4	Sep. 17, 1947	1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane	4	62
5	Sep. 9, 1965	Hurricane Betsy	4 (2)	57
6	Aug. 24, 1992	Hurricane Andrew	5	56
7	Sep. 10, 1960	Hurricane Donna	4	50
8	Sep. 21, 1938	The Great New England Hurricane	3	50
9	Sep. 9, 1900	1900 Galveston Hurricane	4	49
10	Aug. 17, 1915	1915 Galveston Hurricane

Interesting that only two have occurred in the past 50 years and only one in the past 25 years.

Mainly due to location since they estimated the damage in 2017 dollars. For instance, Michael was a Cat 5 last year, but it hit a sparsely populated area.

 

[winlots]

J66: Sounds mighty frightening. Those white pines tend to have a very shallow bed of roots, making them very unstable in high winds. Always need to be cautious re where to plant and how large you allow them to grow. Take care.

 

[msf22b]

People in the rest of the country laugh at our "severe" weather. Connecticut has the lowest risk of natural disasters.

It was a long time ago, before my time...but the New Enlgand Hurricane of 1938 was one of the most destructive on record, more than 600 deaths; forests down through Vermont and New Hampshire.
track torn up, Providence flooded, barrier Island residents, blown out to sea.
It may not be often, but he threat remains.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Mainly due to location since they estimated the damage in 2017 dollars. For instance, Michael was a Cat 5 last year, but it hit a sparsely populated area.

Yes, location is usually the key to damage, along with the storm surge. Michael is one of only five Category 5 storms ever to hit the U.S. There have only been two (Andrew and Michael) in the last 50 years.

 

[j66kicker]

J66: Sounds mighty frightening. Those white pines tend to have a very shallow bed of roots, making them very unstable in high winds. Always need to be cautious re where to plant and how large you allow them to grow. Take care.

Yeah I’m long gone from CT, but not before a lot of major tree surgery. Here in AZ the cactus have shallow roots too, but we have no snow or hurricanes. In 10 years here we have had one dust storm (called a “haboob” here) strong enough to rip up a bunch of saguaro. Too bad too, as one good-sized saguaro is worth over $1000 - takes them a long time to get big.

 

[mbr33ct]

People in the rest of the country laugh at our "severe" weather. Connecticut has the lowest risk of natural disasters.

Maybe the rest of the country should stop laughing and start thinking about relocating to CT... "come to CT, the lowest risk state of natural disasters".

 

[winlots]

Yeah I’m long gone from CT, but not before a lot of major tree surgery. Here in AZ the cactus have shallow roots too, but we have no snow or hurricanes. In 10 years here we have had one dust storm (called a “haboob” here) strong enough to rip up a bunch of saguaro. Too bad too, as one good-sized saguaro is worth over $1000 - takes them a long time to get big.

J66: Very interesting. And sure sounds like you'd best keep a mighty close eye on those "haboobs" of yours! (All in all, how feel about AZ vs CT?)

 

[winlots]

Maybe the rest of the country should stop laughing and start thinking about relocating to CT... "come to CT, the lowest risk state of natural disasters".

mbr33: Very clever! And sounds like we could use you as Gov!

 

[j66kicker]

All in all, how feel about AZ vs CT?

Way different. AZ lacks the cultural stuff and proximity to great cities like NY & Boston. Also lacks really great sports teams - college and pro - like you have in NY & Boston. I mean Phoenix is the 5th largest US city so we have museums and theaters and restaurants & sports teams - just not top class like NY-Boston-LA-Chicago. Weather makes up for it though, plus I have been able to find "almost New Haven quality" pizza. Air conditioning, swimming pools and airplanes get us through July & August.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Way different. AZ lacks the cultural stuff and proximity to great cities like NY & Boston. Also lacks really great sports teams - college and pro - like you have in NY & Boston. I mean Phoenix is the 5th largest US city so we have museums and theaters and restaurants & sports teams - just not top class like NY-Boston-LA-Chicago. Weather makes up for it though, plus I have been able to find "almost New Haven quality" pizza. Air conditioning, swimming pools and airplanes get us through July & August.

View attachment 46279

But how are the lobster rolls?

 

[j66kicker]

But how are the lobster rolls?

Haha - I get my fix a couple times a year when my little suburb has a gourmet food truck event. Not exactly Abbott’s, but there’s always a lobster roll truck - your choice: CT style or Maine style roll, $18.00.

 

[winlots]

Way different. AZ lacks the cultural stuff and proximity to great cities like NY & Boston. Also lacks really great sports teams - college and pro - like you have in NY & Boston. I mean Phoenix is the 5th largest US city so we have museums and theaters and restaurants & sports teams - just not top class like NY-Boston-LA-Chicago. Weather makes up for it though, plus I have been able to find "almost New Haven quality" pizza. Air conditioning, swimming pools and airplanes get us through July & August.

View attachment 46279

HOLY COW, Dude.....you mention having to get thru July and Aug...but these temps you show here would get a whole lotta polar bears into the water as well. (No knock on AZ - been there and like that!

 

[j66kicker]

HOLY COW, Dude.....you mention having to get thru July and Aug...but these temps you show here would get a whole lotta polar bears into the water as well. (No knock on AZ - been there and like that!

It's a dry heat (ha!). I grew up in Oklahoma. Remember 2-a-day H.S. football practices in late August when it was 108 and 90% humidity. This is nothing like that - or like Miami in July. Shoot, 119 here only feels like 106!

 

[winlots]

You have a great sense of humor - thank you, and stay well.

 

[hoopsfan22]

It's a dry heat (ha!). I grew up in Oklahoma. Remember 2-a-day H.S. football practices in late August when it was 108 and 90% humidity. This is nothing like that - or like Miami in July. Shoot, 119 here only feels like 106!

View attachment 46289

108 with 90% is a bit of an exaggeration since that would be a heat index of 231 degrees which would smash the world record by 43.

 

[Bigboote]

Yes, location is usually the key to damage, along with the storm surge. Michael is one of only five Category 5 storms ever to hit the U.S. There have only been two (Andrew and Michael) in the last 50 years.

Camille was in 1969, so if it wasn't in the last 50 years, it only missed by a few weeks.

I'd say that Camille and Andrew have been the scariest storms of my lifetime. Camille had the highest winds of any storm at landfall. But the scariest part is it killed 150 people in VIRGINIA, almost 1000 miles after landfall. There's a hybrid apple that Camille created by bring pollen or seeds from down south up to Virginia.

I was visiting Nelson County VA maybe a decade or so ago, and there were still signs of Camille's destruction. Here's a link to what happened around there 50 years ago:

From the Archives: 100 photos of damage from Hurricane Camille, the worst natural disaster in Va. history

More than six months’ worth of rain fell on Nelson County in a single night in August 1969, creating the worst natural disaster in Virginia history.

www.richmond.com

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Maybe the rest of the country should stop laughing and start thinking about relocating to CT... "come to CT, the lowest risk state of natural disasters".

I may move north after I retire; I'm tired of the heat.

 

[j66kicker]

108 with 90% is a bit of an exaggeration since that would be a heat index of 231 degrees which would smash the world record by 43.

Yeah 231 sounds about like how it felt. OK maybe 90% was a “figure of speech.” I don’t know what the actual humidity was, but it was high - impossible to explain to someone from AZ.

 

[Bigboote]

Yeah 231 sounds about like how it felt. OK maybe 90% was a “figure of speech.” I don’t know what the actual humidity was, but it was high - impossible to explain to someone from AZ.

Yeah, the old 90-90 thing is a figure of speech. Usually it would be a high in the 90's and humidity in the 90's at the coolest part of the day.

A few years ago when training for a marathon, there was a morning when the temp was about 84 and the humidity in the 90's. The dew point was over 80. Needless to say, I took it easy. That's truly nasty weather, although I'm still glad I don't live in Phoenix.