David Paliotta

A thread of videos from today’s flight into Hurricane Melissa In this first one we are entering from the southeast just after sunrise and the bright arc on the far northwest eye wall is the light just beginning to make it over the top from behind us.

From a crewmember on yesterday's Teal 74 mission into now-Category 5 Hurricane #Melissa. As clear of an eye as you will see in the Atlantic basin.

Hurricanes happen in clusters, & right now the US Gulf Coast is in the middle of one. The Northeast US, on the other hand, is in the midst of a long hurricane drought. The last legit landfall up there was BOB—in 1991! But it was a much different story in the mid-20th century, when a series of big, destructive hurricanes smashed New York & New England. I call 1938-1960 the Golden Era of Northeast 'canes. The impacts were focused in a relatively small area, including Long Island (NY), CT, RI, & SE MA. The 1938 storm—an intense, fast-moving Cat 3—was catastrophic & by far the worst. CAROL 1954 was the only other Cat 3. Later in the century, there was a second, less severe, cluster of Northeast US 'canes: BELLE 1976, GLORIA 1985, BOB 1991. P.S. I included HAZEL 1954 because, although it was an extratropical cyclone in the Northeast US, the dirty right side blasted major Northeast cities (Baltimore, DC, NYC, etc.) with winds well over hurricane force. Battery Park in NYC recorded an official gust to 98 knots!