Worst storm in Memory? (Worcester: distance, coastal, boat)

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by western mass and love it

The October 29th 2011 snowstorm was the worst for me. A foot of snow fell onto trees still with all there leaves. The weight of the wet snow and leaves caused the branches and in some cases whole trees to come down knocking out power for almost two weeks for some people.

We didn't even get that here in EMass but I remember calling my friend in WMass and telling her what was going on. She didn't have power and couldn't get beyond her driveway because of fallen trees so she was totally out of the loop. I had to explain about the storm to her. It must have been terrible.

[Boston_Burbs]

Originally Posted by western mass and love it

The October 29th 2011 snowstorm was the worst for me. A foot of snow fell onto trees still with all there leaves. The weight of the wet snow and leaves caused the branches and in some cases whole trees to come down knocking out power for almost two weeks for some people.

I will never forget staying up all night, listening to trees crack, break, and fall all around my house.

I figured the ice storm a few years previous was much like that as well.

[btownboss4]

The Mothers day Flood in 200. Was probably more damaging than all those events, now that I think about it, but it was far less flashy.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by btownboss4

The Mothers day Flood in 200. Was probably more damaging than all those events, now that I think about it, but it was far less flashy.

Are you talking about the one in either 2008 (or was it 2009?) The one where everyone was filing claims with FEMA and spending their claim money on cruises?

[urbanmyth]

The Blizzard of '78.

[raveabouttoast]

Hurricane Irene (Aug 2011) was bad for Western Mass and Vermont.

Several dam failures took out bridges and literally washed away several roads. There were some quite lengthy detours in the Deerfield and Shelburne areas for a while as they repaired roads and inspected possibly damaged bridges.

[btownboss4]

Originally Posted by Parsec

Are you talking about the one in either 2008 (or was it 2009?) The one where everyone was filing claims with FEMA and spending their claim money on cruises?

2006, for the Merrimack Valley and Metro west.

For the South Coast and RI in March 2010 rivers broke records on the 15-16 then the 23-24 th after a second rain storm broke the record from the week before.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by western mass and love it

The October 29th 2011 snowstorm was the worst for me. A foot of snow fell onto trees still with all there leaves. The weight of the wet snow and leaves caused the branches and in some cases whole trees to come down knocking out power for almost two weeks for some people.

Originally Posted by in_newengland

We didn't even get that here in EMass but I remember calling my friend in WMass and telling her what was going on. She didn't have power and couldn't get beyond her driveway because of fallen trees so she was totally out of the loop. I had to explain about the storm to her. It must have been terrible.

Didn't we get that one here in E Mass? The one that canceled (or delayed) Halloween in many towns? I was without power in Natick for 5 days. Or am I thinking of another recent storm? There have been so many in recent years I am losing count in my old age (31) lol.

[ogre]

I was away at college out of state during the blizzard of '78, but based on pictures, stories, and recollections on television shows, I have little doubt that this would take the prize for storms during my lifetime. Based on pictures and historical recollections on television, I'd have to guess that the '38 hurricane takes it for storms in the lifetime of anyone alive today.

In my experience, I'd say that Hurricane Gloria in '85 was the most formidable storm I've experienced while living in MA. In just the last couple of years, Irene and Sandy may have been similar in terms of their effects over large areas with power outages for days or weeks, but in terms of wind speed and the sheer power of the storm, Gloria was the closest I've experienced to a full-fledged major-league hurricane. Gloria didn't reach that level, except maybe in southern coastal areas, but it came the closest to being the real deal of any storm I've seen.

Of course these were all big storms that covered wide areas, but it occurs to me that, among storms during the lifetimes of many people living today, the Worcester tornado in '53 certainly deserves a place on the list.

[ogre]

Originally Posted by Parsec

Didn't we get that one here in E Mass? The one that canceled (or delayed) Halloween in many towns? I was without power in Natick for 5 days. Or am I thinking of another recent storm? There have been so many in recent years I am losing count in my old age (31) lol.

I think you're talking about the 2011 October snowstorm. I seem to recall that this had minimal effects in eastern MA. I live in Natick also, and I think you're probably thinking of Sandy, last fall.