


Public Information Statement
Issued by NWS Boston, MA
Issued by NWS Boston, MA
891 NOUS41 KBOX 070909 PNSBOX CTZ002>004-MAZ002>024-026-RIZ001>008-072115- Public Information Statement National Weather Service Boston/Norton MA 509 AM EDT Mon Jul 7 2025 ...HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS WEEK IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND... Determine your risk... The National Weather Service (NWS) Boston, MA has declared July 7th throughJuly 11th as Hurricane Preparedness Week. Each day this week we will highlight a different preparedness topic. Hurricanes are not just a coastal problem. Their impacts can be felt hundreds of miles inland. Hurricanes such as Irene and Sandy reminded us that significant impacts can occur without it being a major hurricane. Hurricane Preparedness Week is your time to prepare for a potential landfalling tropical storm or hurricane. When living in New England, any tropical system in the Bahamas has the potential to quickly become our business. There are two main source regions for New England hurricanes, the Cape Verde Islands off the west coast of Africa and the Bahamas. The Cape Verde storms can become huge because they have a week or more to travel across the Atlantic, and we know they are coming well in advance. Bahamas storms tend to be somewhat smaller, but they can develop rapidly and impact New England very quickly. In mid-August 1991, a cluster of thunderstorms formed near the Bahamas on a Friday afternoon when most emergency managers went home for the weekend. It was not even a tropical depression yet, but it quickly developed into major Hurricane Bob that Saturday. By Monday, Bob had weakened to a Category 2, but had accelerated and was in for breakfast and out for dinner, like many New England hurricanes. Never concentrate on when the eye is going to make landfall. If you do, you will be too late with your preparations. Storms often accelerate up the coast and when they do, become very asymmetric. The important effects of the storm are shunted way out ahead of the eye. For example, even though the center of Hurricane Bob was still off the North Carolina coast, coastal roadways in Rhode Island were closed 12 to 14 hours in advance due to coastal flooding. This was associated with tropical storm force wind gusts in the outer rain band squalls. As another example, the eye of the 1938 hurricane moved from Cape Hatteras North Carolina to New Haven Connecticut in 8 hours, at times racing north around 60 mph! Unlike most storms, the 1938 hurricane did not weaken on its way toward southern New England due to its rapid forward speed and track. So, remember a named tropical cyclone in the Bahamas should be monitored. Your safety preparations should be completed, not started, by the time the storm is at the latitude of North Carolina. Do not focus on when the eye is coming ashore, because nasty weather will be occurring 12 or more hours in advance of the eye. For more information, visit: http://ready.gov/hurricanes $$ For the latest updates...please visit our webpage at www.weather.gov/boston You can follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NWSBoston You can follow us on Twitter at @NWSBoston