The "Long Island Express": Inside America's Fastest Hurricane

Most hurricanes give people days to prepare. The 1938 New England Hurricane gave them hours, and in some cases, minutes. Nicknamed the "Long Island Express" for its extraordinary forward speed, the storm remains the benchmark against which every hurricane threat to New England is still measured, and understanding why reveals just how dangerous a fast-moving storm can be.

A Hurricane That Outran Its Own Warnings

The storm formed off West Africa in early September 1938 and crossed the Atlantic largely undetected by forecasters, who had no satellites, no radar, and only scattered ship reports to track it with. By the time it was clearly identified as a major hurricane, it was already approaching the Bahamas at near-peak strength.

What made this storm uniquely dangerous wasn't just its intensity, it was its speed. As it approached the East Coast, the hurricane accelerated to roughly 50 mph, one of the fastest forward speeds ever recorded for an Atlantic hurricane. Most storms take days to weaken as they move over cooler northern waters; this one crossed that distance so quickly it barely had time to lose strength, arriving in New England still carrying the power of a major hurricane.