22 years ago today Hurricane Bob barreled up the East Coast with hurricane force winds in Southern RI and MA. The eye of the storm passed over Block Island at 1:30 pm on August 19, 1991. The greatest damage from the storm was in the Buzzards Bay area of Massachusetts – just to the east of the eye. Sustained wind were between 75-100 mph near the coast, with gusts to 125 mph on Cape Cod in Brewster and North Truro.
Many coastal homes in Massachusetts were destroyed when the 10-15 foot storm surge came ashore. According to the National Weather Service, 29 of 37 homes on Cove Road in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts were destroyed. The areas that experienced the strongest winds and highest storm surge received the least amount of rain. The rain totals were highest on the northwest side of the storm. Foster, RI received 7.01″ of rain. Six Southern New England deaths, all in Connecticut, were attributed to the storm.
22 years later, there is nothing going on in the tropics. The National Hurricane Center does not expect any tropical cyclones to form in the next five days. As you may know, this hurricane season a very active hurricane season was predicted, but that has not been the case thus far, with five weak tropical storms and no hurricanes to date.
