Reconstruction of the 1893 New York City hurricane from meteorological and archeological records—Implications for the future

In 1995, the Army Corps of Engineers replenished a beach at Rockaway, New York City, with sandy from offshore dredging sites. Our examination showed the fill contained great numbers of 19th Century artifacts. Archeological analysis suggested a mid 1890s date for the material. Searches of archives indicated that a developed island, Hog Island, existed south of the present-day shoreline from the late 1860s to 1893. Written accounts indicated a hurricane passed directly over NY City on the night of August 24-25, transported the debris seaward. Newspaper records for the date, indicated the storm had a wide envelope of destruction although it was only a Category 2 storm. In addition, coastal destruction increased westward toward the eye (New York City) rather than eastward, toward the right eyewall at Fire Island. Discovery of detailed weather records for the date provided the possibility of reconstructing the storm and finding answers for the anomalies. Time of passage of the hurricane elements over New York City at 20-25 mph indicated the storm had a radius of maximum winds of about 50 miles. The great width of the storm created high wave and strong coastal (East-West) currents that start to remove Hog Island before the gale-force winds of the hurricane arrived. The hurricane made landfall on a rising tide and coastal waters were piled westward into the apex of New York Bight, where they caused massive coastal destruction and flooding. The reconstruction of this hurricane from archival records enables us to predict what will occur when the inevitable major hurricane strikes in western Long Island or New York City.