 Map of the Great Colonial Hurricane's path (reconstructed by theAOML) | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | Unknown |
| Dissipated | September 24, 1815 (1815-09-25) |
| Category 4 major hurricane | |
| 1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS) | |
| Highest winds | ≥130 mph (≥215 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | ≤947mbar (hPa); ≤27.96 inHg (estimated) |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 38+ direct |
| Injuries | Unknown |
| Damage | $12.5 million (1815USD) |
| Areas affected | Long Island,New England, other areas? |
| [1] | |
Part of the1815 Atlantic hurricane season | |
TheGreat September Gale of 1815 was a deadly and fast-moving Category 4Atlantic hurricane in 1815 that became the second of five knownmajor hurricanes to strikeNew England.[2] At the time, it was the first hurricane to strike thegreater area in180 years.[3]
After striking onLong Island, the hurricane caused major damage inConnecticut,Massachusetts,New Hampshire andRhode Island.[4] Rhode Island suffered the worst damage, as the storm surge flooded towns alongNarragansett Bay up to and includingProvidence.[5]
The summer of 1815 was reported to have been unusually stormy (Perley, 1891), possibly because of transient climate changes induced by ash clouds from the eruption of Mount Tambora in April.The hurricane first struck theTurks Islands near the Bahamas on September 20, with a strength estimated to have been equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane.[6]
The storm struck Long Island on September 23, 1815, probably coming ashore nearCenter Moriches (Ludlum)[citation needed] around 7:00 A.M.[6] On the south shore of Long Island it broke through the barrier beach and created the inlet that still isolatesLong Beach, which had previously been an eastward extension ofThe Rockaways.
Around 9:00 A.M. the storm came ashore atSaybrook, Connecticut with the force of what would now be considered a Category 3 hurricane.[6] Waves of up to six feet were reported inNew London.[6]
The "Great Storm"[7] (or "Great Gale"),[5] as it was known there, hitProvidence, Rhode Island on the morning of September 23. From about 10:00 A.M. to noon,[7] the storm delivered a storm surge that funneled upNarragansett Bay where it destroyed some 500 houses and 35 ships.[citation needed] Dozens of ships were deposited on the streets of Providence.[7] The bowsprit of the ship "Ganges" was smashed into the third story of the Washington Insurance Company building.[5] The Second Baptist Meeting House was destroyed. Most of the buildings on the east side from south of theMarket House to India Point were destroyed.[6] At India Point, houses and wharves were destroyed.[7] Both theWashington Bridge and theCentral (Red) Bridge were uprooted from their piers and destroyed.[7]
The rain appears to have been saturated with salt.[6] The leaves on trees which were not blown away were covered with a white salt coating that resembled a light frost.[6] Even houses turned white.[6]
A line on theOld Market Building marks the 11-foot (3.4 m) storm surge that was unsurpassed in the city until the1938 New England hurricane, which brought a 17.6-foot (5.4 m) storm surge. There is still a worn plaque on the Rhode Island Hospital Trust building (built in 1917), along with a newer plaque showing the higher 1938 hurricane water level. AtMatunuck, Rhode Island, sediment studies have identified the overwash fan of sediments in Succotash Marsh, where the 1815 hurricane storm surge overtopped the barrier beach.[8]
The financial loss was estimated at one and a half million dollars, one-quarter the total valuation of the city. Fortunately, only two people died,[6][7] both in India Point.[6]
After the storm, much of the Narragansett Bay area was rebuilt with higher riverbanks, raised wharves, and more durable building practices, to help protect against future storms.[5]
InDorchester, Massachusetts, just south ofBoston, local historian William Dana Orcutt wrote in the late 19th century of the hurricane's impact: "In 1815 there was a great gale which destroyed the arch of the bridge over theNeponset River. This arch was erected over the bridge at the dividing line of the towns [Dorchester and Milton] in 1798." Dorchester's First Parish Meeting House was too badly damaged to repair.[9]
The eye passed intoNew Hampshire nearJaffrey andHillsborough.[10]
In the aftermath of the Great Gale, the concept of a hurricane as a "moving vortex" was presented byJohn Farrar, Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy atHarvard University. In an 1819 paper he concluded that the storm "appears to have been a moving vortex and not the rushing forward of a great body of the atmosphere".
Media related to1815 Atlantic hurricane season at Wikimedia Commons
