Published in Crow’s Nest, November 1975
One of the strangest phenomena in the recorded history of hurricanes occurred off Bermuda in September 1951. That was before the weather people began naming hurricanes after girls. Chief forecaster Grady Norton of the U.S. Weather Bureau in Miami, Fla., had announced that Bermuda was threatened by one of the most powerful circular storms he had ever known – Hurricane Easy.
Long before zero hour, Bermudians knew all about Easy but, characteristically, shrugged their shoulders while the storm was so far away. They did not, as one U.S. magazine reported, “huddle in terror inside boarded up houses and buildings,” but went about their business.
Two days after Easy was reported, another hurricane, designated by the name Fox, was spotted some hundreds of miles back of Easy. A U.S. Navy hurricane hunter, piloting a four-engine Privateer, tried and failed to penetrate the “eye” of the Easy, but reported winds in excess of 200mph. Meanwhile Hurricane Fox, following the same course, had a forward pace of 25mph and was steadily overtaking Easy. Both storms, which had been moving westward began curving to the north. Presently, Forecaster Norton noted with some excitement that the two hurricanes were now on a “collision” course. Weather bureau experts, with no precedent to guide them, had no idea what would happen if the two storms actually did clash.
On the evening of September 8, Easy was still holding steadfastly on a course for Bermuda, while Fox was moving faster on a course, which if maintained, would intercept Easy quite close to Bermuda.
At five a.m. next day the unprecedented happened (at least in weather bureau records). Fox delivered its Sunday punch squarely on Easy; Easy staggered, ducked below the smaller hurricane, and veered off to the northeast. Fox vaulted over its gigantic adversary and, as if shocked by its own audacity, bolted for the open ocean.
Both storms blew themselves out in the North Atlantic without crossing a coastline. In Miami, according to report, Grady Norton crowed with delighted amazement, “Bermuda has been saved from one hurricane by another hurricane.”
