Hurricane Gloria was a powerful and fast-moving Cape Verde-type tropical cyclone during the 1985 Atlantic Hurricane Season. The storm gained attention for its speed and its threat to the densely populated U.S. Northeast. It produced widespread damage and became the first major hurricane to seriously threaten the East Coast in over two decades. Gloria began in the deep Atlantic and tracked along the entire eastern seaboard.
The Timeline and Trajectory
The storm began as a tropical wave off the coast of Africa on September 15, 1985, organizing into a tropical depression south of the Cape Verde Islands the next day. It was named Tropical Storm Gloria on September 17. After briefly weakening, it restrengthened into a hurricane on September 22 north of the Lesser Antilles. Gloria followed a path that curved northwest, accelerating significantly as it approached the U.S. coast.
The first U.S. landfall occurred on September 27, 1985, striking southern Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Moving at approximately 35 miles per hour, Gloria quickly tracked north along the Mid-Atlantic coastline. It made a second landfall later that day on western Long Island, New York, near Islip. A third landfall occurred shortly after in western Connecticut near Westport, before the storm raced through New England. The system transitioned into an extratropical storm over Maine early on September 28, with remnants continuing across Atlantic Canada.
Peak Intensity and Classification
Hurricane Gloria achieved its maximum strength over the open Atlantic Ocean, reaching Category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale on September 25. At its peak, the hurricane featured maximum sustained winds of 145 miles per hour and a minimum central pressure of 919 millibars. This pressure reading was one of the lowest recorded in an Atlantic hurricane that did not reach Category 5 status.
The storm began to weaken as it approached the cooler waters and landmasses of the U.S. East Coast. When Gloria made its initial landfall on the North Carolina Outer Banks, it had weakened to a Category 2 hurricane, with sustained winds of approximately 105 miles per hour. By the time it struck Long Island and Connecticut, it was classified as a minimal Category 1 hurricane. However, it still produced hurricane-force wind gusts equivalent to a Category 3 storm in some areas of Long Island.
Impact and Aftermath
Hurricane Gloria caused damage across multiple states, resulting in approximately $900 million in property damage in 1985 U.S. dollars. The storm was responsible for 14 fatalities, with most deaths caused by fallen trees and wind-related incidents. A factor in limiting the storm surge damage was its arrival at low tide along much of the coastline.
The coastal regions of North Carolina experienced heavy beach erosion and coastal flooding, especially in the Outer Banks where high waves created several new inlets. In the Mid-Atlantic, hundreds of thousands of people were left without power, including 237,000 in New Jersey, as high winds downed trees and power lines. Long Island and Connecticut were among the hardest-hit areas, with over 4 million people losing electricity across the region. This set a record for the worst power outage in Connecticut’s history. The storm surge, despite hitting at low tide, reached 6.9 feet at Battery Park in New York City, and on Long Island, the waves and winds destroyed 48 homes.
Historical Context and Legacy
Hurricane Gloria was part of the 1985 Atlantic season, which was slightly more active than average. It was the first significant tropical cyclone to affect the northeastern United States since Hurricane Agnes in 1972. It was also the first major storm to directly impact New York City and Long Island since Hurricane Donna in 1960.
The storm’s rapid approach led to massive evacuation efforts, with over 380,000 people ordered to evacuate from North Carolina to Connecticut. The confusion and communication challenges regarding the storm’s speed and changing intensity led to increased scrutiny of hurricane preparedness in the Northeast. Due to its extensive impact on the East Coast, the name “Gloria” was permanently retired from the rotating list of Atlantic hurricane names by the World Meteorological Organization.