1991 Perfect Storm
| Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
The Perfect Storm to the south of Nova Scotia on October 30, 1991
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| Formed | October 28, 1991 |
|---|---|
| Dissipated | November 2, 1991 |
| Highest winds |
1-minute sustained: 75 mph (120 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 972 mbar (hPa); 28.7 inHg |
| Fatalities | 13 direct |
| Damage | > $200 million (1991 USD) |
| Areas affected | East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Canada |
| Part of the 1991 Atlantic hurricane season | |
The 1991 Perfect Storm, also known as the The No-Name Storm (especially in the years immediately after it took place) and the Halloween Gale, was a nor'easter that absorbed Hurricane Grace and ultimately evolved back into a small unnamed hurricane late in its life cycle. The initial area of low pressure developed off Atlantic Canada on October 29. Forced southward by a ridge to its north, it reached its peak intensity as a large and powerful cyclone. The storm lashed the east coast of the United States with high waves and coastal flooding before turning to the southwest and weakening. Moving over warmer waters, the system transitioned into a subtropical cyclone before becoming a tropical storm. It executed a loop off the Mid-Atlantic states and turned toward the northeast. On November 1 the system evolved into a full-fledged hurricane with peak winds of 75 miles per hour (120 km/h), although the National Hurricane Center left it unnamed to avoid confusion amid media interest in the predecessor extratropical storm. It later received the name "the Perfect Storm" (playing off the common expression) after a conversation between Boston National Weather Service forecaster Robert Case and author Sebastian Junger. The system was the fourth hurricane and final tropical cyclone in the 1991 Atlantic hurricane season. The tropical system weakened, striking Nova Scotia as a tropical storm before dissipating.
Damage from the storm totaled over $200 million (1991 USD) and the death toll was thirteen. Most of the damage occurred while the storm was extratropical, after waves up to 30 feet (10 m) struck the coastline from Canada to Florida and southeastward to Puerto Rico. In Massachusetts, where damage was heaviest, over 100 homes were destroyed or severely damaged. To the north, more than 100 homes were affected in Maine, including the vacation home of then-President George H. W. Bush. More than 38,000 people were left without power, and along the coast high waves inundated roads and buildings. In portions of New England, the damage was worse than that caused by Hurricane Bob two months earlier.
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