Hurricane Gloria
Hurricane Gloria was a powerful tropical cyclone that caused significant damage along the East Coast of the United States and in Atlantic Canada during the 1985 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the first significant tropical cyclone to strike the northeastern United States since Hurricane Agnes in 1972 and the first major storm to affect New York City and Long Island directly since Hurricane Donna in 1960. Gloria was a Cape Verde hurricane originating from a tropical wave on September 16 in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. After remaining a weak tropical cyclone for several days, Gloria intensified into a hurricane on September 22 north of the Lesser Antilles. During that time, the storm had moved generally westward, although it turned to the northwest due to a weakening of the ridge. Gloria quickly intensified on September 24, and the next day reached peak winds of. The hurricane weakened before striking the Outer Banks of North Carolina on September 27. Later that day, Gloria made two subsequent landfalls on Long Island and across the coastline of western Connecticut, before becoming extratropical on September 28 over New England. The remnants moved through Atlantic Canada and went on to impact Western Europe, eventually dissipating on October 4.
Before Gloria made landfall, the National Hurricane Center issued hurricane warnings at some point for the East Coast of the United States from South Carolina to Maine. Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated, and the hurricane was described as the "storm of the century." In general, Gloria's strongest winds remained east of the center, which largely spared locations from North Carolina to New Jersey, and the passage at low tide reduced storm surge. Hurricane-force winds and gusts affected much of the path, which knocked down trees and power lines. This left over 4 million people without power, causing the worst power outage in Connecticut history related to a natural disaster. Fallen trees caused six of the storm's fourteen deaths.
In North Carolina, high waves damaged many homes along the Outer Banks and caused heavy beach erosion. High waves also damaged piers, boats, and docks throughout the Mid-Atlantic states. Flooding forced several highways to close, and in Pennsylvania, thousands were forced to evacuate their homes. The storm surge destroyed 48 homes on Long Island, while the winds damaged the roofs of many more. Widespread crop damage occurred, amounting to about $20 million. Overall damage in the United States was estimated at $900 million, which was less than expected. In neighboring Canada, the remnants of Gloria caused minor power outages in New Brunswick, although confusion related to the storm's arrival led to the creation of the Canadian Hurricane Centre.
Meteorological history
A tropical wave moved off the west coast of Africa on September 15. Based on data from satellite imagery, it is estimated that a tropical depression formed on September 16 near Cape Verde, with an associated low-level circulation. The next day, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Gloria, but there was no further intensification. On September 18, Gloria weakened back to tropical depression status, but re-intensified into a tropical storm on September 20. During this time, it moved generally westward due to a strong ridge to the north. On September 21, the Hurricane Hunters began flying into Gloria to measure the storm's intensity, and the next day, a flight observed winds of at a height of. As a result, the National Hurricane Center upgraded Gloria to a hurricane about east-northeast of the Lesser Antilles.After having moved generally to the west, Gloria turned more to the west-northwest on September 22. This occurred after tropical storms Fabian and Henri weakened the ridge. On September 23, Gloria passed about to the north of Anegada, the northernmost island in the Lesser Antilles. It initially remained a minimal hurricane until September 24 when it began quickly intensifying. That day, it became a major hurricane while passing northeast of the Bahamas. Gloria developed a wide eye, surrounded by an eyewall, and was producing the stadium effect. At 01:20 UTC on September 25, Hurricane Hunters extrapolated a barometric pressure of, and reported flight-level winds of. At the time, this was the lowest pressure measured by reconnaissance aircraft over the northern Atlantic Ocean. Because there was little difference in the flight-level winds and the surface winds, this was estimated to have been Gloria's peak intensity, making it a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. However, a preliminary reanalysis released in 2008 suggested peak winds of. At peak intensity, the hurricane was located about southeast of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, and had an eye diameter of only.
After peak intensity, Gloria weakened while turning to the north, moving around the western end of the ridge, toward a cold front. By September 26, the winds had decreased to, just 30 hours after its peak intensity. Shortly after peaking, Gloria's asymmetrical wind field caused the storm to rapidly weaken, and 18 hours later, its sustained wind speed decreased to. Later that day, a buoy about east of the center recorded a wave height of, which at the time was the highest buoy wave recording in an Atlantic hurricane. While accelerating toward North Carolina, Gloria re-intensified slightly to winds of, making it a Category 2 hurricane. At 05:30 UTC on September 27, the hurricane struck southern Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks. After weakening further, Gloria passed just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and New Jersey and interacted with a cold front. Its strongest winds remained on the eastern edge of the circulation, and the storm was gradually losing tropical characteristics. At 16:00 UTC on September 27, the hurricane made landfall with a broad and poorly defined center, between John F. Kennedy International Airport and Islip, New York, with sustained winds of, on western Long Island. This was only about three days after Henri had struck the same general area as a much weaker tropical storm. Operationally, the NHC had classified Gloria as a Category 3 major hurricane when it made landfall, but the storm's landfall intensity was later downgraded in the post-season analysis. Even then, the hurricane produced Category 3-equivalent wind gusts throughout Long Island.
About an hour after striking Long Island, Gloria made its final landfall in western Connecticut near Westport, and proceeded to move through New England, while weakening. The NHC estimated that Gloria became extratropical over Maine by 00:00 UTC on September 28. The storm continued moving towards the northeast through Atlantic Canada, passing south of Greenland on September 30. The extratropical circulation of Gloria was last noted on October 2, although the storm's remnants later affected Europe and were last noted on October 4.
Preparations
Early in Gloria's duration, it threatened the northern Lesser Antilles, prompting a hurricane watch and later warning for the area. Gloria also threatened the Bahamas, prompting that government to issue hurricane watches and warnings.While Gloria was off the east coast of Florida, the NHC issued a hurricane watch from Edisto Beach, South Carolina to Cape Henry, Virginia, which was upgraded to a hurricane warning at 1000 UTC on September 26, or 19.5 hours before landfall. By later that day, a hurricane watch was issued for the rest of the eastern United States to Eastport, Maine. By two hours before Gloria's landfall on Long Island, a hurricane warning was in effect for the same area, after warnings were gradually extended further north. Officials anticipated higher winds and storm surge than what occurred, due to the hurricane weakening as it approached landfall.
Officials in Delaware and Maryland declared a state of emergency before the storm struck, and thousands of people from coastal communities evacuated to shelters. Schools closed in Delaware, and non-emergency workers were sent home. Along Long Island in New York, hundreds of thousands of people evacuated their homes, and a state of emergency was declared for several counties. In Connecticut, about 20,000 people evacuated along the coast, and 7,300 evacuated from neighboring Rhode Island. Residents also evacuated portions of Cape Cod.
As Gloria approached the East Coast of the United States, National Hurricane Center director Neil Frank called it the "Storm of the Century", due to its intensity and potential track over the densely populated region of New England. Such a track gathered the attention of many people, and led to the evacuation of 380,000 people along the coast from North Carolina to Connecticut. In Maryland, officials implemented lane reversing to expedite the evacuation process, a policy many other coastal states now use.
Officials advised 95,000 citizens along the New Jersey coastline, an area that rarely experiences hurricanes, to evacuate. Cape May County—the most vulnerable part of the state and among the most susceptible in the entire country—would require 36 hours in 2005 to evacuate the 100,000 citizens and 900,000 tourists that were commonly present during busy summer weekends.
Offices and classes of Harvard University closed only for the third time in the 20th century, the previous cases being the New England Hurricane of 1938 and the Blizzard of '78. Although Gloria's winds downed numerous trees and caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage in the area, overall effects were much less than expected.
At the same time Gloria was making landfall on Long Island, a storm warning was issued for western New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Across Atlantic Canada, the threat of Hurricane Gloria caused many citizens to rely on American media for storm coverage.