Tropical Storm Debby is expected to affect parts of Massachusetts and New England with periods of rain, flooding, gusty winds along the coastal waters and potential storms by Friday into Saturday.
While Debby’s impact is yet to be seen in our region, there have been a handful of “D-named storms” that have created some problems for Massachusetts and parts of New England in the past.
In August 1955, Hurricane Diane caused significant flooding in New England. As it sat off the northeast coast as a weaker tropical storm, Diane produced about 20 inches of rain in just two days, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Connecticut saw some of the worst flooding from Diane, along with the most damage and fatalities. More than 70 people died during the event there. Parts of Massachusetts saw about 15 inches of rain from Diane.
It became the costliest hurricane in U.S. history (almost $1 billion) at that time, until Hurricane Betsy surpassed it in 1965.
Five years later in September 1960, Hurricane Donna made landfall in southern New England near Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Donna then proceeded inland toward Lowell, Massachusetts, and into New Hampshire, creating significant wind and flooding inland. About 4 to 6 inches of rain fell inland, with rainfall totals around 2 to 4 inches closer to the coast.
The rain may not seem as impressive as the previous storm, but Donna created very windy conditions, causing widespread damage and power outages in the region. In fact, the NWS says that the Blue Hill Observatory in Milton reported wind gusts as high as 140 mph. Boston even had winds gusting to nearly 80 mph.
Danny was another storm that impacted Massachusetts, mainly off the coast in July 1997.
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Danny made landfall as a hurricane over the Gulf Coast before moving inland. The storm eventually re-emerged over water, this time over the Atlantic Ocean, as a tropical storm. Danny moved north toward New England, and even though it churned offshore, the system created periods of rain, tropical-storm force winds, power outages and flooding for Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
And in June 2020, Tropical Storm Dolly was another D-named storm that developed, forming about 350 nautical miles southeast of Cape Cod. But Dolly did very little to New England. In fact, the National Hurricane Center, no coastal watches or warnings were issued during Dolly’s lifespan.
Stay with your NBC 10 Boston First Alert Weather Team as we continue watching the tropics this season.
