Discover the Most Powerful Hurricane to Ever Hit Massachusetts

Hurricanes are powerful tropical cyclones that bring incredibly powerful winds and drenching rains. In the United States, places like Florida and Texas experience the most frequent hurricane landfalls. However, hurricanes can also strike New England, the northeasternmost region of the U.S. Although hurricanes in this region are rarely strong, they can be destructive. Learn about the most powerful hurricane to ever hit Massachusetts and learn where it struck, how much damage it caused and the lasting impact it had on the region.

How Are Hurricanes Rated?

Before we consider the most powerful hurricane to strike Massachusetts, it is important to know how these storms are classified. The National Weather Service rates hurricanes using the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Hurricane wind speeds have a baseline of 74 miles per hour, so that is where Category 1 starts.

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale assigns a hurricane a rating of 1 to 5, with 1 being the weakest and 5 being the strongest. The associated wind speeds refer to the storm’s sustained winds and not its gusts.

The following chart shows the hurricane scale and the associated wind speed.

Any hurricane rated Category 3 or above is considered a major hurricane. These storms have the potential to do serious damage to structures, cause major flooding, and kill humans and animals in their paths.

Four Category 5 hurricanes have struck the U.S. mainland, and each of them caused incredible damage. However, any hurricane can damage homes and dump massive amounts of rain in an area.

When Is Hurricane Season in Massachusetts?

Hurricanes do not hit throughout the year. Instead, the hurricane season for Massachusetts is like any other state on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic Hurricane season runs from June 1^st to November 30^th.

However, Massachusetts gets its most serious hurricanes between August and October. Few major hurricanes have hit the region in the past. However, this part of New England has been hit by some moderately powerful hurricanes in the past.

What Was the Most Powerful Hurricane To Ever Hit Massachusetts?

The most powerful hurricane to ever hit Massachusetts was the 1938 New England Hurricane, a Category 3 hurricane. The hurricane produced sustained wind speeds of 121 mph along with an incredibly powerful gust that reached 186 mph. The lowest pressure exhibited by the storm was about 940 mbar. The storm goes by a few other names, notably the “Long Island Express Hurricane.”

The hurricane first formed on September 9, 1938. The hurricane formed off the coast of Africa and traveled west, passing north of the Caribbean Islands before turning sharply north. The storm grazed states on the east coast before making landfall at Bayport, Long Island, New York on September 21, 1938, wreaking havoc across the area and rapidly moving through the area.

The speed with which the storm struck Long Island and moved into New England provided the namesake “Long Island Express Hurricane.” The hurricane steamed north, following the Connecticut River Valley and ripping through Massachusetts.

The hurricane continued north, weakening until it dissipated on September 23, 1938.

The Damages Caused by the Long Island Express Hurricane

The damage to Massachusetts was significant, to say the least. The hurricane tore its way north from Long Island where it left over 600 people dead and slammed into Rhode Island and then Massachusetts. The storm made landfall in southern Massachusetts, making a direct strike on the town of Milton.

Milton is a town south of Boston. The lone anemometer that survived the winds recorded sustained winds of 121 mph with a gust from the south that hit 186 mph.

The powerful winds destroyed buildings, wrecked ships in Boston Harbor, and killed dozens of people throughout the state. The hurricane rushed north, weakening as it struck farther north.

By the time the hurricane dissipated, it had killed almost 700 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes. The storm caused over $400 million in damage in 1938, a number that would be worth over $5 billion in 2023.

Why The Hurricane Was So Powerful

At the time, some people wondered how the 1938 New England Hurricane got so powerful. Most storms encounter the cold waters of the northern Atlantic Ocean and begin to dissipate. That was not the case with this storm. For one thing, the hurricane was moving at speeds of nearly 50 mph as it traveled north. Also, the hurricane followed the Gulf Stream, providing the hurricane with warmer-than-usual water.

With these factors, the storm was much more potent than most hurricanes that reach New England.  

How Did Animals Fare During the 1938 New England Hurricane?

The huge loss of human life from the most powerful hurricane to ever hit Massachusetts makes it seem likely that many animals died as well. Powerful winds and flooding could easily kill any animals caught out in the open or even sheltered in certain places.

The records from the time do not provide a great deal of information about the animals in the region. They only say that many farms and their livestock were wiped out, especially on Long Island. So, thousands of animals were probably killed during the storm.

All told, the 1938 New England Hurricane, sometimes called the Long Island Express Hurricane, was the most powerful one to strike the state of Massachusetts. This strong Category 3 hurricane had tremendous power, it and brought sustained winds in excess of 120 mph to the area. Such powerful storms are rare in this region, and people in the state hope to never see one so strong again.