A new book from Island author Thomas Dresser is diving into the history of storms on the Vineyard with the hope that it can prepare people for the tempests of the future.
Historic Storms of Martha’s Vineyard, the 18th book from Mr. Dresser, analyzes major storms such as the Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635, the Portland Gale of 1898, the Great New England Hurricane of 1938, Hurricane Bob in 1991, and the 1991 Perfect Storm.
Mr. Dresser said the book, published last week and available in Island bookstores, addresses the constant threat severe weather can pose to coastal communities.
“We are in a fraught era in our life cycle,” writes Mr. Dresser in the opening pages of his book. “How long can we continue to say, ‘It’s just weather; no one can do anything about it.’”
Each storm was different, and Mr. Dresser, who lives in Oak Bluffs, details how they affected the community. The one many on the Island remember and is held up measuring stick to all other storms is Hurricane Bob.
“[Hurricane Bob] was a fast-moving tempest,” writes Mr. Dresser. “It was a fierce storm. The wind toppled hundreds of trees and brought down 2,400 power lines across the Island. Wind gusts of eighty-five to ninety miles an hour were reported at the height of the short-lived storm.”
Mr. Dresser’s other books have delved into several different facets of Vineyard history. This time he was inspired by David Foster’s book, A Meeting of Land and Sea, which explores how storms converge and impact Martha’s Vineyard.
“I read David Foster’s book about how storms develop and how [Martha’s Vineyard] is so liable to be in a storm,” Mr. Dresser said.
For Historic Storms, Mr. Dresser combined historical accounts with photographs from the archives of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum to showcase the experience of the individuals who bore witness to the destructive power these storms possessed.
Many of the findings Mr. Dresser references were discovered from the budding practice of paleotempestology, a fairly new field of science focused on viewing the historical records of hurricane activities by primarily studying sediment cores taken from ponds and marshes situated behind beaches and coastal barriers.
Like studying the rings of a fallen tree, looking back through history as it was deposited by storms into coastal sediment can give researchers a view into the past.
“We know what came through here because they’ve done core drilling, where you go into the pond and pull out the depth of a drill,” said Mr. Dresser. “Basically, that takes out a whole bunch of soil that’s chronologically settled into the pond.”
As you go through the layers of the core samples, it is possible to see the effect of these storms over hundreds of years.
“[Scientists] can tell how strong, how powerful and how dangerous the [Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635] was in comparison to Hurricane Bob,” said Mr. Dresser. “It’s fascinating.”
Mr. Dresser wants the book to be used to spur conversations about storms under climate change.
“The hope is that this book will help prepare us for the future by learning to live within the confines of the weather,” writes Mr. Dresser. “Then maybe we can survive its most dramatic effects.”
One of the indicators of the potential for more frequent and severe hurricanes is the change in water temperature. According to Mr. Dresser, the temperature of sea water rises at about one-tenth of a degree per decade.
Data published by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows that between 1901 and 2015, the sea surface temperature rose at an average rate of 0.13 degrees per decade. According to the EPA, rising sea temperatures can increase the amount of atmospheric water vapor that feeds weather systems, producing more precipitation and increasing the risk of heavy rain and snow. This can expedite changes to the natural and developed environment along the coastline.
Mr. Dresser’s book talks about these catastrophes from a historical perspective, a purview that acknowledges it has been quite some time since the last major storm.
“We’re going to be getting more hurricanes,” said Mr. Dresser. “They’re probably going to be stronger and longer lasting and more dangerous as time goes on.”
Mr. Dresser will be discussing the history of storms on Martha’s Vineyard at the Aquinnah Library on April 30 at 3 p.m., at the Chilmark Library on May 1 from 11:30 a.m., and at the Edgartown Library on May 7 at 6 p.m.
This article appears in May 1, 2026.