The 9/11 Hurricane That Missed New York City

Jon Erdman
Published: September 11,2015

As the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 were unfolding in New York, Washington, D.C. and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a hurricane was spinning off the Northeast coast.
One of the most chilling weather satellite images ever taken captured both Hurricane Erin, about 500 miles east-southeast of New York, and the smoke plume from the World Trade Center twin towers about two hours after the first tower was hit (shown in the upper-left inset of the image above).

Weather map from 7 a.m. ET, September 11, 2001. New York City is indicated by the red square. (NOAA)

On Sept. 10, 2001, a cold front swept through the East Coast with rain and thunderstorms. Crystal clear, cool weather followed on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 11.
"Temperatures at 9 a.m. that morning were 65 in New York and 70 in Washington, and warmed to 72 and 76, respectively, by 11 a.m. Winds were out of the northwest at 6 to 12 mph in both cities, which served to blow smoke and debris from the disaster in Lower Manhattan into Brooklyn," senior digital meteorologist Nick Wiltgen said.
While Hurricane Erin was never a threat to landfall in the Northeast, the cold front and increased westerly winds aloft gave a final east, then northeast shove to Erin.
In a strange coincidence, almost exactly 10 years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Hurricane Katia was spinning in almost the same location on Sept. 9, 2011. As with Erin, Hurricane Katia made a hard-right turn before reaching the East Coast.
One can only wonder how the history books might have been rewritten if Hurricane Erin would've threatened the Northeast in September 2001.

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