28 October - 1 November 1991 - "Halloween Storm" (Figure 41 
79. ("Halloween Storm") - This major storm, which was similar in many 
respects to the 1962 "Ash Wednesday" storm, was actually a sequence of events 
which began with a hurricane. Early on 27 October, Hurricane Grace approached 
the southeastern U.S. coast. While still well out to sea, Grace curved to the 
north, following a track that paralleled the coast but kept her well offshore. 
By the morning of 28 October, Grace was located approximately 1,000 kilometers 
east of the North Carolina coast where she encountered a strong easterly 
moving Canadian high-pressure system. The collision of these two systems 
produced high onshore winds at the FRF. Augmented by these strong winds, 
large waves, which were produced well offshore by Hurricane Grace, continued 
to build as they approached the North Carolina coast; wave heights recorded at 
the FRF increased throughout the day. Grace continued to track north, finally 
being absorbed by a low-pressure system located off Nova Scotia late on 29 
October. The merging of these two systems produced a huge storm which, 
contrary to normal storm tracks, proceeded to slowly move to the southwest. 
Early on 30 October the storm was off the New England coast and generating 
hurricane-force winds with a central atmospheric pressure of 988 mb as it 
continued its slow southwesterly course. By the morning of 31 October the 
storm was located well off the Maryland shore; although still strong, it had 
begun to weaken with its southwesterly movement greatly reduced. November 1 
found the storm reversing its course and moving back out to sea as it 
continued to weaken. By the morning of November 2, the storm had curved back 
to the north; however, by the time the storm crossed the Maine coast, it had 
weakened considerably. 
80. Although only a few oceanfront structures on the Outer Banks were 
completely destroyed, there was heavy damage to the primary dune system as 
well as extensive flooding and ocean overwash. Much of the sediment removed 
from the dunes was deposited inland burying most of an oceanfront road, while 
the flooding made many other roads impassable for over a week. Much heavier 
damage was reported to areas north of the Outer Banks, especially along the 
New England coast. 
81. Maximum wind speeds at the FRF approached 18 m/s at 1600 EST on 
28 October while the maximum H,, (at Gage 630) of 5.93 m (T, = 19.69 sec) 
occurred at 0016 EST on 31 October. The minimum atmospheric pressure at the 
74 
