On the 11-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, today’s crystal blue skies over the Eastern U.S. bear remarkable similarity to those on that tragic day.
Meteorologist Sean Potter, writing for Weatherwise magazine, opens his retrospective on the weather of 9/11/2001 like this:
“Tuesday, September 11, 2001, dawned temperate and nearly cloudless in the eastern United States.”
The still, clear weather enabled the hijacked flights to take-off and may have assisted the terrorists in carrying out their plots. As Potter explains:
It certainly aided them in navigating and finding their targets, as none of the hijackers was a professional pilot, though several had taken pilot training courses in the United States. “For those heading to an airport,” the 9/11 Commission report stated, “weather conditions could not have been better for a safe and pleasant journey.” The 8:51 a.m. temperature reading was 68°F at Central Park, 72°F at La Guardia, and 73°F at both JFK and Newark Airports.
Both today and in 2001, the picture perfect late summer (or early fall) weather resulted from sprawling areas of high pressure.
Today’s conditions are slightly cooler compared to 2001 in the East for two reasons: 1) The high pressure area is stronger than its 2001 counterpart. 2) It’s centered smack dab over the East Coast today whereas it was focused on the Ohio Valley in 2001.
Morning lows ranged from mid-50s to mid-60s (between the cooler suburbs and urban areas) in 2001 in both the New York City and Washington, D.C. regions. Today’s lows ranged from the more crisp upper 40s to upper 50s.
Under full sunshine, high temperatures promise to be very similar today compared to the low 80s of 2001, maxing out in the upper 70s.
It’s interesting to note that in both years, there were active tropical systems in the mid-to-high latitudes near or just off the East Coast of North America. In 2001, after a close brush with Bermuda, hurricane Erin spun several hundred miles east of New England.
Erin generated nothing but high surf along the northeast U.S. shores. But satellites looking down at the hurricane were able to sense smoke from the Twin Towers.
Today, tropical storm Leslie is lashing Newfoundland - having followed a similar track to Erin.
Mercifully, the skies are smoke-free.