Archived coverage: Great Storm of 1933

Storm survivors survey the damage in Ocean City. Described in the American Meteorological Society's August 1933 weather review as "one of the most severe storms that has ever visited the Middle Atlantic Coast," the slow-moving weather mass dumped 10 inches of rain a day for nearly a week, even before wind gusts as high as 80 mph and a 7-foot tide arrived. (Baltimore Sun file photo / August 18, 2008)

August 22, 2008

Great Hurricane both blessing, curse to Ocean City

In the early years of the last century, Ocean City's commercial fishermen had to launch their boats through the surf and drag them and their catch back onto the beach with horses, ropes and pulleys. It was colorful, but inefficient.

August 25, 1996

Hurricane of 1933 hit state hard

For students of Maryland weather history, the hurricane of August 1933 ranks as one of the greatest meteorological calamities ever to visit the state. In those days, hurricanes were not named; that practice started in the 1950s. Rain began falling Sunday, Aug. 20, with Ocean City receiving 6 inches in 24 hours, and, by Tuesday, The Sun reported that "a tropical disturbance of great intensity was gathering near Bermuda." The local weather prediction, however, was for "decreasing rain and increasing wind with probable sunshine for tomorrow."

August 23, 2006

Reborn in a hurricane

They didn't name hurricanes back then, but 70 years later, old-timers who remember and merchants who can only imagine it say the Great Storm of 1933 that lashed the Atlantic coast and roared up the Chesapeake Bay was the best thing that ever happened to Maryland's only beach resort.