Hurricane force winds in 'historic' storm
Calling it “a historic nor’easter” that buried parts of Long Island under 30 inches of snow, the National Weather Service said Tuesday it recorded winds of 84 mph in Montauk and 74 mph in Stony Brook during the height of the storm.
Both measurements qualify as hurricane force, in which a Category 1 hurricane packs winds of 74 to 95 mph.
The wind recordings across Long Island were remarkable, from the North Fork to the South Shore, including 69 mph in Southold, 68 mph in Baiting Hollow, 67 mph in Eatons Neck, 65 mph at Robert Moses State Park, and 60 mph in Blue Point.
Many other areas saw winds of 50 mph or more, including Bayville on Long Island Sound (59); Gabreski Airport in Westhampton (58); Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma (54) and Republic Airport in East Farmingdale (53).
Many other areas in Nassau and Suffolk saw winds of at least 40 mph, which qualify as gale force winds, defined as 39 to 54 mph.
While official Long Island weather data only dates to 1963, weather service records suggest the area’s worst winter storm remains the Great Blizzard of 1888, a storm known as the Great White Hurricane. Taking place March 11-14, 1888, that storm saw as much as 58 inches of snow, a recorded snowdrift of 52 feet in Gravesend, Brooklyn, and wind gusts greater than 80 mph in some areas.
John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.
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