AP goes back 371 years for 'Pilgrims hurricane'

With no hurricanes reaching U.S. shores this year, Associated Press editors continue to have the windy word on their minds (see Grumpy Editor Nov. 16 item). So why not turn back the weather to Aug. 25, 1635 when a storm brought winds calculated to be up to 130 m.p.h.  It smacked an area where the Pilgrims landed.  (Hey, that makes it timely for this week with Thanksgiving Day tomorrow.)

USA Today, among other news outlets, ran the lengthy "The Great Colonial Hurricane" story by Larry McShane yesterday.  Some publications included an AP chart of the affected area showing the storm's eye track even though modern weather measuring devices, including anemometers, were not among the gear Pilgrims packed in their trunks.

Some of the information relied on input from a Queens College geology (not meteorology) professor and details from colonial journals that were fed to computer models.