Rhode Island and the east coast of New England got quite the concentrated winds and rain in the early hours of January 17, 2022. The howling winds and pelting rain against our house made for a restless morning sleep.

Riverview experienced some damage to the seawall & ramp located in Lippitt Ave. Park (aka Cady Park). Coping/facing stones on the outer wall were ripped off by the high surf, and some washed into the ramp. The outer wall will need repair but is still standing. The mortar & concrete look fairly porous, and this allowed water infiltration to erode the wall’s structure. Possibly a new approach on the horizon?

The ramp & wall “look safe”, but I would be careful climbing around on the outer wall should future tides continue to work away at it and any loose stones fall off. You could get hurt! We don’t want that!

Below are some photos I took at approx. 7:45 AM, January 18, 2002. I’ve also compiled some interesting weather data from the NOAA Conimicut Light Station instruments to compare this major wind event to Hurricane Sandy when she blew through RI on October 29, 2012. And there are photos of an October 28, 2006, storm that also washed over the wall (certainly several more instances between now and then too).

Right on it!

Councilman Ed Ladouceur, our Ward 5 rep., was here this morning with Warwick DPW crew and (2) trucks to check it out and assist with clearing debris from the ramp. Thanks go to [then RVIA president], Kevin Eisemann, for emailing Councilman Ladouceur about the situation. Talk about quick response from the City of Warwick – Ed gets it moving!!!

Thanks to Ed and Kevin. The Park is a very nice neighborhood asset, and it would be great to have it back in shape for the Spring.

Recalling October 28, 2006

I happen to go check things out at the park while a storm was full on. Wet & windy!
I can imagine that this latest storm was similar with even more powerful waves. The feature at the park wasn’t very old at this point. I don’t recall the exact date when it was built. The planting area adjacent to the outer wall was subsequently filled with cement and other repairs were required back then.

Weather Info!

Below is some interesting weather data comparing the sustained winds, maximum wind gusts, and water levels of this STORM of January 17th and that of Hurricane Sandy:

Two very different storms, but I’m a “wind junky” and was curious about the comparisons. Hurricane Sandy was a very powerful, slow-moving hurricane so the timeframe of sustained winds is much longer. This storm was quicker moving.

The Storm of Jan. 17th had a stronger max. sustained wind of 55.5 mph versus Sandy that was 49.0 mph. But Sandy’s max. Wind Gust was higher at 70.7 mph versus this storm at 67.6 mph. Not a huge difference! But duration is very different. (This info is for Conimicut Light area and doesn’t represent the strength on the South coast.)

Hurricane Sandy produced a storm surge with its wind and movement from the south. This storm arrived close to high tide, and the moon was quite full. Luckily, we didn’t have the tidal surge of Sandy. Conimicut Light graphs shows the peak high tide level at 7.03 feet. Sandy, with her surge, was at 9.06 feet – 2 feet higher.

Good storm info that could settle a bet around the dinner table or out & about somewhere! One of the customers of the company I once worked for had a good slogan, “In God we trust, all others bring data“. So… here’s the storm data.

Wishing you calm seas & slack tides,
David Woisard,
Website Admin