CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I've been giving this a lot of thought lately after 2011. Especially since the storms of 2011 put a lot of prior events in perspective. The criteria is societal impact followed by how anomalous the event was in terms of meteorology. Also a factor has to be how widespread the impact was in the state (i.e. a tornado would be most catastrophic but damage most isolated). It's hard to place 1888 since modern infrastructure was in its infancy and we lived differently than we do today (no cars, etc). For that reason I'll start at 1900 and beyond. 1. Hurricane of 1938 2. Floods of 1955 These two are sort of no brainers. How do we fit in the rest??? Windsor Locks Tornado 1979 1989 tornadoes Gloria (do we bump her off for Irene?) October Snowstorm Blizzard of 78 1973 ice storm Hurricane Carol Hurricane Bob 1992 Nor'Easter 1936 Connecticut River Flooding 1982 June flooding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 I've have some interesting thoughts... interested to see where others come down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Would the Windsor locks tornado be #3 given its localized impact? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Would the Windsor locks tornado be #3 given its localized impact? Yeah could be... but it was so localized I don't know. The fact it is still 9th costliest US tornado of all time says something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Irene and gloria are a toss up. No doubt Gloria had more wind damage but surge not as bad i guess. Power problems may be worse now due to pop growth and tree growth as well, despite Gloria being stronger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 I was actually thinking 1978 as #3 since it had such incredible societal impact PLUS coastal flooding. I believe the tide level at Stamford from 1978 is only eclipsed by 1992 and 1938. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Yeah could be... but it was so localized I don't know. The fact it is still 9th costliest US tornado of all time says something. Well that's the thing.....it was so anomalous so how do you rank it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Irene and gloria are a toss up. No doubt Gloria had more wind damage but surge not as bad i guess. Power problems may be worse now due to pop growth and tree growth as well, despite Gloria being stronger. Yeah I'd edge Irene over Gloria because Irene had wind damage but also had coastal flooding (worst in some places since 1938) and inland flooding. Funny to bump a hurricane off the list for a tropical storm but Irene had it all in terms of hazards from a hurricane. No question though Gloria's wind damage was worse than Irene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Well that's the thing.....it was so anomalous so how do you rank it? lol dunno. I guess maybe in the #4 spot after 1978. Then maybe Carol or OctoSnow then Irene. OctoSnow gets the nod over Irene because the snowstorm was WAY more anomalous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 1979 tornado also has to be high up because it is the ultimate freak storm. Who would ever forecast a tornado... nevermind expect an F4... on a day like that in CT in October lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 lol dunno. I guess maybe in the #4 spot after 1978. Then maybe Carol or OctoSnow then Irene. OctoSnow gets the nod over Irene because the snowstorm was WAY more anomalous. Was the surge localized to just the Fairfield area? I feel like I never really heard about other areas too much. I know there was some widespread flooding, but I only heard of Westport area being the worst. I mean if you take that away, no doubt Octosnow gets the nod for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 1979 tornado is totally unlike any other NE US significant tornado. I would love to see that bad boy on radar. The damage in a few Poquonock neighborhoods is absolutely incredible.... worse than Springfield/Monson/Brimfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Was the surge localized to just the Fairfield area? I feel like I never really heard about other areas too much. I know there was some widespread flooding, but I only heard of Westport area being the worst. I mean if you take that away, no doubt Octosnow gets the nod for sure. Oh East Haven lost I think 40 houses total.... with over 100 damaged. East Haven was worse than Fairfield. The damage on other parts of the shoreline in Branford, Guilford, Madison was the worst from coastal flooding since 1938. Businesses, homes, all destroyed in most of the towns west of Old Lyme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radarman Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 For Noho/Hadley, 1936 might be #1 all time, with the river peaking nearly 5' higher than it did in 1938... It holds the top spot for most if not all the Ct. River gauges in CT too, but I agree it was probably less impactful than some of the others you mention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Oh East Haven lost I think 40 houses total.... with over 100 damaged. East Haven was worse than Fairfield. The damage on other parts of the shoreline in Branford, Guilford, Madison was the worst from coastal flooding since 1938. Businesses, homes, all destroyed in most of the towns west of Old Lyme. Irene caused much more damage dollar wise than the Oct snow. I would rate it ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Oh East Haven lost I think 40 houses total.... with over 100 damaged. East Haven was worse than Fairfield. The damage on other parts of the shoreline in Branford, Guilford, Madison was the worst from coastal flooding since 1938. Businesses, homes, all destroyed in most of the towns west of Old Lyme. LOL, oh man. We have no idea......NO IDEA what a Cat II would do coming into CT during high tide. Wow. We'll be back to the stone age. Honestly...people have no freaking clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Irene caused much more damage dollar wise than the Oct snow. I would rate it ahead. Well it was also a run of the mill TS, so anomalies probably come into play as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Irene caused much more damage dollar wise than the Oct snow. I would rate it ahead. Yeah if you were just going by damage you're correct. The thing with Irene... storms like that one should be 1 in 20 year kind of events...we've just been lucky IMO. That's why I think you have to give deference to October because of how rare and anomalous it was (plus it did break the power outage record too). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 LOL, oh man. We have no idea......NO IDEA what a Cat II would do coming into CT during high tide. Wow. We'll be back to the stone age. Honestly...people have no freaking clue. I still can't get over the damage down there all this time later. It's absolutely remarkable what the water did. Yeah a cat 2 would just be an absolute catastrophe. We are so overbuilt down on the water Irene will likely look like a hiccup in 50 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 For Noho/Hadley, 1936 might be #1 all time, with the river peaking nearly 5' higher than it did in 1938... It holds the top spot for most if not all the Ct. River gauges in CT too, but I agree it was probably less impactful than some of the others you mention. Yeah gotta put '36 on the list somewhere. The damage if 36 happened today would be infinitely worse too. The farm land around the river that used to exist is now subdivisions lol. Not sure if it's possible with how flood controlled the CT is up north though. I will say of all the flood controlled rivers in CT the one I worry the most about is the CT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 You guys bust my chops but Irene s approach angle and the fact it coincided with a very strong new moon tide probably makes it much greater than a 1-20 year event. The tide timing and angle is very rare for a TS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 One of these days, CT will be hit with another Carol or 1938 That damage will be insane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 You guys bust my chops but Irene s approach angle and the fact it coincided with a very strong new moon tide probably makes it much greater than a 1-20 year event. The tide timing and angle is very rare for a TS. Not sure what you mean by angle but yeah high tide but astro tide definitely perked it up from a run of the mill TS to a cat 1 hurricane in terms of surge damage. I still think by and large we've had a number of storms that we've been just as lucky to get to come at low tide (particularly Gloria). Seems like a 1 in 20 year event to me still though. October snowstorm was probably a 1 in 100-200 year kind of event for the lowlands of CT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 One of these days, CT will be hit with another Carol or 1938 That damage will be insane That goes for any coastal area in SNE, 38 was at a full moon tide too. That makes a huge difference. All in all, on the whole, huge natural disasters in SNE are rare and seldom affect everyone at once for extended periods. A 38 would. Irene was a pimple compared to 38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Not sure what you mean by angle but yeah high tide but astro tide definitely perked it up from a run of the mill TS to a cat 1 hurricane in terms of surge damage. I still think by and large we've had a number of storms that we've been just as lucky to get to come at low tide (particularly Gloria). Seems like a 1 in 20 year event to me still though. October snowstorm was probably a 1 in 100-200 year kind of event for the lowlands of CT. Angle, meaning hugging the coast into NYC, the highest surge values and concentrated max tidal strength being aimed at LI sound. Most times CT is either cut in half or west of re-curves. rare to see a directly moving North storm that far west. If Irene had not stalled over NC for so long I expect a cat higher and higher tides would have occurred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damage In Tolland Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I think any cane supercedes any flooding. Flooding bad,,b ut doesn;t affect that many folks all things considered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I think any cane supercedes any flooding. Flooding bad,,b ut doesn;t affect that many folks all things considered Biggest $$$ are from flooding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Angle, meaning hugging the coast into NYC, the highest surge values and concentrated max tidal strength being aimed at LI sound. Most times CT is either cut in half or west of re-curves. rare to see a directly moving North storm that far west. If Irene had not stalled over NC for so long I expect a cat higher and higher tides would have occurred. Floyd, Bertha, etc. Not that uncommon. At the end of the day it's the easterly component that gives you the flooding thanks to tidal piling. 1938 still has the highest tide level at Stamford (by quite a bit) even though the storm passed 50 miles east. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Rain Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 I think any cane supercedes any flooding. Flooding bad,,b ut doesn;t affect that many folks all things considered 1955 was just outrageous. It certainly supercedes most hurricanes. The damage and human suffering was enormous over multiple river basins. Not to mention the rainfall totals were totally way beyond anything else that's occurred in these parts in the last 100 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 counting all of CT impact wise 1. Hurricane of 1938 2. Floods of 1955 Blizzard of 78 1936 Connecticut River Flooding Irene October Snowstorm Hurricane Carol Gloria 1973 ice storm Windsor Locks Tornado 1979 1989 tornadoes 1992 NorEaster 1982 June flooding Hurricane Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.