28 years ago today, the Jersey Shore was spared as Hurricane Bob passed offshore

The Jersey Shore woke up to a rain, wind, and big waves from the offshore Hurricane Bob 28 years ago today.

Approaching the region as a weakening Category 2 hurricane, the cyclone brushed past New Jersey and made landfall in Block Island, Rhode Island, packing wind gusts of 105 miles per hour.

The hurricane sent a five to eight foot storm surge ashore in Rhode Island and 12 to 15 feet in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts.

In New Jersey, Hurricane Bob generated large surf and caused beach erosion, according to the National Weather Service. Damage was minimal.

When skies began to clear at the beaches by the afternoon, the ocean conditions became a surfer’s paradise.

Bob was the first serious tropical threat to the Jersey Shore since Hurricane Gloria in Sept. 1985, which was originally projected to be the first cyclone to directly strike New Jersey since 1903. It ultimately remained just offshore.

In 2019, while the current hurricane season has been generally quiet, NOAA forecasters earlier this month said “oceanic and atmospheric patterns say conditions are now more favorable for above-normal hurricane activity.”

Hurricane season began on June 1, peaks in mid-September, and ends on November 30. Upcoming names include Chantal, Dorian, Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Imelda, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Melissa, Nestor, Olga, Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Van, and Wendy.

The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management offers a hurricane survival guide.