Sudden Seas

The Great Hurricane of 1938, or known to many as the Long Island Express, was known as one of the most disastrous hurricanes to hit New England. It wasn’t the high winds, heavy rain, and high waves/storm surge that gave this hurricane its title in history. The Great Hurricane had a fourth deadly weapon; the element of surprise. It was the beginning of September, a time where many packed up their summer clothes, boarded up their houses, and left to return back to the real world leaving their summer homes behind. When symptoms of a storm approached New England, many locals convinced themselves and others that it was just the normal “line storm” which occasionally comes in September. It wasn’t until Sept 21 that people realized the so-called impossible was actually happening and they weren’t prepared. The misinterpretation by the people and Weather Bureau’s naÐ"Їve manager’s decisions cost many lives and losses in New England. In this essay I will argue that Washington’s Weather Bureau’s interpretation error gave the New England residents a false sense of security for the hurricane of 1938 by using three class readings and the book Sudden Sea by R.A. Scotti.

In the reading “Genesis” from the book Divine Wind I have learned that most storms need a trigger to develop into a hurricane. An example of a believed trigger is the atmospheric disturbances known as African easterly waves. They develop over the sub-Saharan Africa, thanks to the Sahara Desert’s heat, and move off the west coast. Most will keep traveling west and somewhat northward. The easterly waves may turn into hurricanes when, “especially in late summer and early fall, the amount of convection associated with a particular wave increases, and winds near the surface evolve from the typical wavy pattern of an easterly wave into a closed circulation. A tropical depression is born. If conditions remain favorable, the depression may develop further into a tropical storm and, later, into a full-blown hurricane.” (Genesis, 99). On page 34 of the book, Sudden Sea, the author describes a discovery in the Sahara Desert. Meteorologists noticed a slight shift in the wind; an area of unstable air was passing over northwest Africa. Within a day or two it moved over the Atlantic Ocean to around the Cape Verde Islands. This should have been the first sign to the Weather Bureau to watch this particular storm. Although storms born off of the Sahara Desert were more likely to become nothing, there was still a slight chance it would develop from the unstable air combining with moisture built up from the heat of the equator off of the islands.

The first mistake the Jacksonville’s weather bureau made was to call all extra relief workers and coast guards from New York and New England down to Florida to prepare for the storm. While looking out and protecting Florida, they took many needed hands from the northeast, which was hit harder. Their second mistake, a more important one, was to assume this storm was another typical Cape Verde hurricane because it began to veer northward. Those storms were known to curve away from the tropics at first opportunity and head north for colder water where it would soon die off before hitting the US. It followed this specific course by the Bermuda High currents, “a mass of dense dry air that dominates the weather in the North Atlantic over many miles.”(Sudden Sea, 46) But this storm was not following the anticipated course, instead of slowing down, it only accelerated, which was a clear sign to the Weather Bureau. Even though it was showing the storm veering away from the US, meteorologists know hurricanes are spontaneous and tricky.

The Great Hurricane of 1938 is a great example of rejuvenation which the second reading, “Death and Transfiguration” from the same book, Divine Wind describes. Rejuvenation occurs when “hurricanes interact with middle and high latitude weather systems- the familiar high and low-pressure systems … known as extra tropical cyclones and anticyclones.” (D & T, 110) Those systems receive their energy from horizontal temperature contrasts. For them to develop, ascending air must be warmer than descending air, since cold air is denser than warm. When a hurricane encounters the horizontal temperatures, “it can trigger the sinking of cold air and rising of warm air that converts potential energy into kinetic energy, thereby increasing the storms own intensity.”(D & T, 111) In another words, the hurricane can tap the supply of energy from horizontal temperature contrasts, therefore strengthens to continue on its path. Although no one took the time to check out the storm further, one weather rookie analyzed a theory of the tricky storms path, but was left ignored by the more experienced staff.

The bright new forecaster Charles Pierce from the Washington’s Weather Bureau saw the path of the storm before anyone realized. He drew maps confirming and backing his theory with evidence, but when shown to his superiors, was turned down because he lacked experience. He pointed out 4 important points; first, he cited the Carinthia’s low pressure reading which indicated the storm was still a strong hurricane. Second, the Bermuda High was in an abnormal position, which would draw the storm north. “To the west, a second front hung over the Alleghenies, so between the parallel systems, a valley of low pressure extended from New England to the Carolinas… the moist low pressure channel turned the Northeast into a steam bath.” (Sudden Seas, 76) Pierces theory simply said if the hurricane was blocked from going to sea by the misplaced