Hurricane Belle remains the #1 Tropical system for ENJ/NYC/Nassau County LI

[A-L-E-X]

I had a very, very primitive wind gauge which was a hydraulic system and did not have a recording capability. (Remember, this was 25 years ago. ) It was attached to the TV antennae on our roof, and a tube led down the side of the house, along the drainpipe, and in through my window to the indicator. (Bless my dad for putting up with my crazy wx nerdiness. )

Anyhoo, the red fluid in the hydraulic system left some traces which suggested we had some gusts to around hurricane force-- and that seemed about right: I'd say my location-- a mile from the beach, on the North Shore-- had max gusts in the 60-70-kt range. Of course the winds were much stronger on the South Shore, further E.

Your dad's awesome I had to rely on what I knew of the Beaufort scale at the time.... I had picked up a book about various weather phenomena (cloud types, what different barometer readings and wind direction meant, types of precip and the beaufort scale) back when I was in 5th grade. Got my dad to buy it for me And that's when I became hooked on the weather (well, officially hooked--- before that I was only into snowstorms.)

[A-L-E-X]

We had drizzle (see above).

One thing I would love to know is if we've ever had a "pure" hurricane up in these parts-- everything I have read about had been transitioning to extratropical-- even 1938. Is it too much to ask for a nice concentric hurricane with a tight eye in the middle? I assume if we did have one, it would have been before the satellite era, so we'd have to look for a storm that had similar amounts of rain and wind on different sides of the eye.

[HurricaneJosh]

Your dad's awesome I had to rely on what I knew of the Beaufort scale at the time.... I had picked up a book about various weather phenomena (cloud types, what different barometer readings and wind direction meant, types of precip and the beaufort scale) back when I was in 5th grade. Got my dad to buy it for me And that's when I became hooked on the weather (well, officially hooked--- before that I was only into snowstorms.)

My dad was pretty awesome-- he was very patient and helpful Re: my harsh wx nerdiness. (God, where do freaks like us come from? ) Like you, I relied on the Beaufort scale a lot as a teen-- we had so little in the way of information, tools, and technology back in the '80s. Fun times, in their own, weird way.

One thing I would love to know is if we've ever had a "pure" hurricane up in these parts-- everything I have read about had been transitioning to extratropical-- even 1938. Is it too much to ask for a nice concentric hurricane with a tight eye in the middle? I assume if we did have one, it would have been before the satellite era, so we'd have to look for a storm that had similar amounts of rain and wind on different sides of the eye.

Of all the Long Island 'canes of the 20th century, rumor has it that Carol 1954 might have been that storm. It apparently had a relatively small, tight core (for that latitude) as it crossed the East End and into CT/RI with winds of ~100 kt. That's just based on some light research I've done on that one-- I haven't delved too deeply at this point.

[A-L-E-X]

My dad was pretty awesome-- he was very patient and helpful Re: my harsh wx nerdiness. (God, where do freaks like us come from? ) Like you, I relied on the Beaufort scale a lot as a teen-- we had so little in the way of information, tools, and technology back in the '80s. Fun times, in their own, weird way.

Of all the Long Island 'canes of the 20th century, rumor has it that Carol 1954 might have been that storm. It apparently had a relatively small, tight core (for that latitude) as it crossed the East End and into CT/RI with winds of ~100 kt. That's just based on some light research I've done on that one-- I haven't delved too deeply at this point.

Good memories, Josh! It was really fun forecasting by cloud types and wind direction back then. Not to mention the rush of seeing the forecast on TV-- I didn't have cable back then so I had to rely on the regular news and AM Weather.

The mid 50s were probably the best time for hurricane fans on the east coast..... actually, the period from 1938 through 1960 was gold..... I haven't heard of any other quarter century period that had a similar level of intense storms making landfall somewhere on the eastern seaboard!

[CT Rain]

Of all the Long Island 'canes of the 20th century, rumor has it that Carol 1954 might have been that storm. It apparently had a relatively small, tight core (for that latitude) as it crossed the East End and into CT/RI with winds of ~100 kt. That's just based on some light research I've done on that one-- I haven't delved too deeply at this point.

Yeah the RMW was very small with Carol compared to other New England hurricanes. While places east of the Connecticut River got hammered up here in CT there was little to the west of there. It appears to have had a very tight core but I think by the time it got to CT the eyewall was pretty ragged on the western side considering many towns along/west of the eye's path had minimal if any damage while east of the eye the damage was remarkable.

There would have been some disappointed weenies in central/western LI & CT I think in Carol.

[Wannabehippie]

It was like Gloria was outracing her eye, and becoming detatched from it. I remember going outside during the eye of the hurricane, skies brightened, very warm out, then you can see the skies darken again, went back in, but really did not get much precip at all on the backside..

We had drizzle (see above).

[LongIslandHurricanes]

35 Years ago today she hit!!

http://www.hurricanes-blizzards-noreasters.com/hurricanebelle.html