Legendary Storm
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Often, a storm rages with such fury that it becomes legend. Other times, a legend is born of a storm. But it is indeed rare for a legendary storm to spawn a story as prominent as the storm itself. Such were the Great Hurricane of 1635 and the legend of Thacker Island.

Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton and this is The Weather Notebook.

New England weather had never been kind to the young Massachusetts colonies. In mid-August1635, a great tempest entered Narragansett Bay, crossed east of Providence and then drove inland between Plymouth and Boston, before heading out to sea near Cape Ann.

The hurricane blew down thousands of trees -- plucking the stronger by the roots and snapping tall pines at mid-tree. It.overthrew houses and drove ships from their anchor. The storm surge in Narragansett Bay rose fourteen feet above normal tide.

The greatest drama, however, occurred off the coast where the wind's full force caught a small sailing bark bound for Marblehead. The twenty-three aboard included a Reverend Avery, his wife and nine children, and Anthony Thacker, his wife and six children.

Wind and surf beat a relentless tattoo upon the vessel as the two families huddled in the torn cabin, comforting one another in the face of the cruel sea. A series of mighty waves washed Thacker out upon the rocks; those remaining were likewise soon swept into the sea.

Thacker miraculously found himself beached on a small island, where his wife lay entangled in the wreckage, the only other survivor. Three days later, a boat rescued them from the desolate island that Thacker would name Thacker's Woe. The rock he called Avery's Fall.

Thanks to contributing writer Keith Heidorn of Victoria, British Columbia. The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mount Washington Observatory. It is underwritten by the National Science Foundation.