windspeed at these localities usually reached a maximum shortly before 
the center of the low passed up the coast; e.g., maximum winds at Atlantic 
City (22 knots from the northeast) occurred shortly after 2400 hours on 
the morning of 17 December. At that time, the direction of the wind began 
changing, from easterly to northwesterly, as the center of the low moved 
up the coast. Similar changes in wind direction occurred later that 
morning as the low passed offshore of New York and Boston. At Boston, 
the maximum windspeeds that preceded the passage of the front (35 knots) 
were the highest recorded during the 3-day period at the four localities. 
The Portland wind record was more variable with maximum windspeeds 
occurring after the storm passed. The change in direction, indicating the 
passage of the low, occurred shortly after 1600 hours on 17 December. 
Generally, as the low moved up the coast, it was preceded by strong 
winds from the northeast and followed by a shift in the wind direction 
(from the northwest), causing slightly weaker winds. 
III. WAVES, TIDES, AND SURGE 
1. Waves. 
During the storm, wave variables were recorded by CERC wave gages and 
visually observed. Detailed wave data for the storm period, including 
gage data, BEP visual data, and visual surf observations from the U.S. 
Army-Coast Guard Cooperative Surf Observation Program, are reported in 
Pritchett (1971). 
Gage data were taken for 7 minutes at 4-hour intervals at Atlantic 
City, Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Wrightsville Beach and Nags Head, 
North Carolina. Each 7-minute record was analyzed, and the wave period 
calculated from the regular waves; then, all the heights were ordered and 
the highest one-third was averaged to yield a significant wave height 
(Fig. 4) (Thompson and Harris, 1972). In addition to gage data, visual 
estimates of wave height, period, breaker type, and direction were made, 
usually once a day at selected localities. 
Gage data from Atlantic City show that the maximum significant wave 
height (11 feet) and maximum period (12 seconds) occurred on the morning 
of 17 December. These were the largest values recorded on the Atlantic 
coast by the gages during the 3-day period. The maximum wave height 
dropped off rapidly to a more normal value after passage of the storm 
center; the period remained near its maximum until 1200 hours, 19 December. 
Virginia Beach, the next gage station south of Atlantic City, reached 
its height maximum 6 hours earlier than Atlantic City, followed several 
hours later by the period maximum. The height maximum at Wrightsville 
Beach also occurred earlier, but was smaller than at Virginia Beach. 
