Hurricane Gloria was a hurricane during the 1985 Atlantic hurricane season and prowled the Atlantic Ocean from September 16 until September 28, 1985. It reached Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, but had weakened by the time it made landfall.

Gloria was a Cape Verde-type hurricane, developing off the coast of Africa and travelling all the way west to the United States. It veered north of the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, and Dominican Republic. While east of the Bahamas the storm reached its peak intensity on September 24. It weakened slightly by the time it struck Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on the night of September 26, the eye of Gloria skimmed the Outer Banks and the next day slammed into Long Island, and bore through Nassau County, New York, before slamming into land near Milford, Connecticut, and eventually moved up into New England.

Incredibly, only 8 people died in Gloria, mostly from falling trees. The storm hit the Northeast at lowtide, saving much of the coast from a terrible storm surge. Quick and organized evacuation procedures in most of Long Island's coastal communities like Fire Island and Long Beach also was credited with saving lives.

Gloria did leave behind over US$900 million in damages.

By contrast, 1991's Hurricane Bob, a storm of nearly identical strength and size, did a lot more damage and was a lot more destructive to parts of New England.

See also

• List of notable tropical cyclones