Remembering Hurricane Carol

On August 25, 1954, Carol formed in the eastern Bahamas as a tropical storm, then strengthened to a hurricane as it passed 100-150 miles east of Charleston, SC. On August 31, Carol made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane, first on Long Island and then near Groton, CT.

Hurricane Carol was the most powerful storm to strike New England since the Hurricane of 1938. Around one third of all New Englanders lost power for several days.

Coastal Connecticut, Rhode Island, and south coastal Massachusetts were especially hard hit from not only wind but storm surge. Hundreds of ocean front cottages were either destroyed or damaged significantly. Storm surges of 10 to 15 feet resulted in flooding 8 to 12 feet deep in those areas, including downtown Providence.

Hurricane Carol was responsible for 60 deaths. Over 4,000 homes, 3,500 cars, and 3,000 boats were destroyed. Damages totaled $461 million dollars which equates to about $5.25 billion dollars today. This was the costliest disaster in U.S. history until Hurricane Diane surpassed it one year later.

Like most New England hurricanes, the highest winds associated with Carol were near and east of the storm's track.

Winds of 80-100 MPH were observed in southeastern Connecticut, Rhode Island, and eastern Massachusetts. The highest wind gust observed was 130 MPH on Block Island, RI.

The steeple of the Old North Church was toppled by Hurricane Carol’s high winds. This was the second steeple; the original was destroyed by the “Great Gale of Boston” in 1804.

Hurricane-force winds also caused significant damage elsewhere in eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

In addition to significant damage from the wind, a storm surge of 10 to 15 feet caused additional damage along the Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts coastline. In Providence, a storm surge of 14 feet led to flooding downtown that submerged cars and buses.

In Bristol, RI, storm surge flooding devastated the downtown area, including much of the area around Thames St.

Over its lifetime, the Edgewood Yacht Club in Cranston withstood a number of hurricanes, including the Hurricane of 1938. Hurricane Carol was more severe, causing substantial damage to pilings, docks, marina slips, and flooding the entire first floor of the club.

Significant flooding also affected areas near Point Judith on the South Coast where some communities were nearly completely destroyed. Fishing fleets in Galilee were devastated.

Oakland Beach in Warwick, RI saw significant devastation from Hurricane Carol. Storm surge flooding wiped homes off their foundation near the shore and the debris piled farther inland, causing additional damage.

Similar to most New England hurricanes, the heaviest rain fell near and west of Carol's track. The highest rainfall totals, on the order of 4 to 6 inches, fell in eastern Connecticut, Rhode Island, and central Massachusetts. This rainfall resulted in flooding of smaller streams and urban areas.

Airport weather observations captured the story of Hurricane Carol as the storm passed southern New England.

At TF Green Airport near Providence, the eye of the storm passed overhead at 11:45 AM. A peak wind gust of 105 MPH was recorded at 10:20 AM, and rainfall totaled 2.60 inches.

On Nantucket, Hurricane Carol passed to the west of the island but produced a peak wind gust of 77 MPH at 8:32 AM and 1.76 inches of rain.

At Logan Airport in Boston, Carol also passed to the west but produced a peak wind gust of 100 MPH at 11:26 AM and 2.58 inches of rain. Interestingly, hail fell for one minute that morning which counted as a trace of snow for the day! For climatological purposes, the National Weather Services includes hail as snowfall.

Newspaper headlines helped convey the extent of damage and destruction from Hurricane Carol.

It's important to remember that in 1954, forecasting was done much differently than today. There were no weather satellites, no computer model forecasts, no coastal weather radars, and forecasts were issued by teletype.

Back then, forecasters relied on airport weather observations, upper air balloon soundings, knowledge of basic weather patterns, and their own intuition.

Today's technology allows us to be able to re-create weather maps from previous decades. This map shows what the prevailing upper air pattern (at 500 mb or about 18,000 ft) looked like in August, 1954.

The blue and purple shading near New England indicates a persistent area of low pressure, or dip, in the jet stream was dominant. This pattern helps steer hurricanes up the East Coast toward New England.

The upper air map (500 mb or 18,000 ft) on August 31, 1954 showed a classic setup for a landfalling hurricane in southern New England.

Low pressure near the Great Lakes resulted in southerly flow up the East Coast which drew the hurricane toward the coastline instead of allowing it to escape out to sea.

Just two weeks later, Hurricane Edna made landfall on Martha's Vineyard, about 100 miles to the east of where Hurricane Carol made landfall.

Edna was a Category 2 hurricane at landfall and produced winds of 120 MPH on Martha's Vineyard, 110 MPH on Block Island, and 100 MPH at Hyannis. The winds caused widespread power outages, including nearly all of Cape Cod.

Damage in Connecticut and Rhode Island was mainly in areas already affected by Hurricane Carol. Several streets were washed out, and rivers rose above the flood stage. Storm surge reached 6 feet but did not occur at high tide. Still, it was enough to cause flooding and heavy boating damage.