Hurricane Grace (1991)

Hurricane Grace was a Category 2 hurricane. It lasted only four days. It became part of another cyclone known as the Perfect Storm.

Grace formed on October 26. At first, it was a subtropical cyclone. This means it was partially tropical and partially extratropical. It became a full tropical cyclone on October 27. It later reached winds of . The storm had a little effect on the island of Bermuda when it passed to the south. Another storm to the north made Grace turn east. The hurricane combined with the large circulation of the other low pressure system.

Meteorological history 

Grace began as a low pressure area in the middle of the atmosphere. It formed on October 23 south of Bermuda. Reports from a ship said that it was in the lower atmosphere by October 25. At first, the storm was like a subtropical cyclone. There were not many thunderstorms around its center. (For a storm to gain strength, strong thunderstorms need to build around it.) The system started being called a subtropical storm on October 26. A separate area of clouds near Bermuda slowly became involved with this storm. There started to be thunderstorms near the center of the storm. Because of this, on October 27, the storm became a tropical storm and was named "Grace".

Grace continued to get larger. Information from satellites gave measures of the storm's strength. Based on that and reconnaissance reports, Grace was changed to a Category 1 hurricane. That is the lowest level on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The hurricane moved towards the northwest until an extratropical cyclone formed along a cold front on October 28. This storm quickly became stronger and very large. It eventually caused Grace to turn quickly to the east. Around the same time, Grace began to have an eye. Grace moved faster as it moved east. On October 29, it reached its highest strength. Its winds were at . Its minimum central barometric pressure was 980 mbar (hPa; 28.94 inHg). That made it a Category 2. The center of the hurricane passed  south of Bermuda. Bermuda was not affected much.

Hurricane Grace turned northeast later that day. The cold front quickly came and overtook it. After that, it was no longer a tropical system. Grace moved north along the front. It combined with the large storm to the north. By the next day, Grace could not be seen any more.

Preparations and impact 

On October 27, a tropical storm warning was sent for Bermuda . The next day, the tropical storm warning was made into a hurricane warning. On October 29, the hurricane warning was lowered to a tropical storm warning. This was changed to a gale warning shortly after. Bermuda had some rain and wind from the storm. The rain reached . However, no deaths or bad damage were reported. A yacht, a type of boat, that was traveling from Bermuda to New York ran into strong winds and seas  high off the Virginia coast. The nine people on the boat had to be rescued by Coast Guard helicopters.

Because of its large size, Grace caused large waves along the East Coast of the United States. These waves reached at least  high. No bad property damage occurred. There was minor beach erosion. Carolina Beach, North Carolina lost about  of sand.

The damage from Hurricane Grace was mostly small. Because the damage from the tropical cyclone was not very bad, the name "Grace" was not retired. It was reused during the 1997 Atlantic hurricane season.

Related pages
1991 Atlantic hurricane season
1991 Halloween Nor'easter

References

Other websites 
Hurricane Grace Preliminary Report
List of Bermuda hurricanes

Hurricanes in Bermuda
1991 Atlantic hurricane season
Category 2 Atlantic hurricanes
1990s in Bermuda
1991 in North America