The Wild Weather Quiz: Six Questions on Nolo and the Nor'easter

Late September was a rough stretch for American coastlines on opposite sides of the country. Hurricane Nolo skirted Hawaii, drenching the Big Island while hundreds of National Guard members fanned out across the state. On the other side of the country, a slow-moving nor'easter hammered the East Coast with flooding rain, gusts topping 70 mph and the kind of coastal flooding that turned roads into rivers. Both storms hit within days of each other, and both left damage worth knowing about. This Wild Weather Quiz turns six of the biggest storylines from those storms into questions.

Here is how this Wild Weather Quiz works. Every question has four options and exactly one right answer. The answers sit in a separate section below, each with the story behind it, so work through the questions first and check your score after. All six questions come from real reporting on the two storms, and there is no time limit.

Wild Weather Quiz: the questions

1. Hurricane Nolo menaced which island state in late September?
A) Florida
B) Hawaii
C) Puerto Rico
D) Guam

2. Forecasters warned that parts of the Big Island could see up to how much rain from Nolo's outer bands?
A) 5 inches
B) 20 inches
C) 40 inches
D) 2 inches

3. About how many National Guard members were activated across Hawaii ahead of Nolo?
A) 100
B) 250
C) 400
D) 800

4. Nolo was the second punch for the Big Island. Which hurricane had already battered it in August?
A) Lala
B) Lowell
C) Iniki
D) Lane

5. The nor'easter turned deadly in Brooklyn. Who was killed when a tree fell during the storm?
A) A 56-year-old New York City Housing Authority employee
B) A surfer caught in floodwaters at Coney Island
C) A National Guard member on rescue duty
D) A television news helicopter pilot

6. While Nolo threatened Hawaii, a second hurricane was churning off Mexico. Which one?
A) Polo
B) Marco
C) Tico
D) Vera

Wild Weather Quiz: the answers

1. Correct: B. Nolo's center stayed well south of the islands, but its outer bands still drenched Hawaii. According to the Associated Press, the storm's center passed about 165 miles south-southwest of the state's southernmost point, close enough for forecasters to warn of life-threatening flooding and mudslides. The storm was expected to keep strengthening into a major hurricane as it tracked westward to the south of the islands.

2. Correct: B. Forecasters put the Big Island's worst-case rainfall near two feet. As CNN reported, totals could reach that level in the hardest-hit areas, with heavy rain expected on the other islands too.

3. Correct: C. Roughly four hundred Guard members were positioned statewide, with about 120 on the Big Island. The governor's emergency proclamation activated them; CNN reported the statewide figure and the Hawaii National Guard detailed the Big Island deployment in its own release.

4. Correct: A. Lala struck in August, and its winds and rain were strong enough to sweep roughly a hundred houses off their foundations on the Big Island. The Associated Press reported that damage, which is why hundreds of residents were still in emergency housing when Nolo arrived.

5. Correct: A. Leighton Brown, a New York City Housing Authority employee, died when a tree fell on him in Brooklyn. According to USA Today, city officials tied his death to the storm, and four other people were hurt when a tree fell at a Brooklyn playground.

6. Correct: A. Hurricane Polo was moving north off Baja California while Nolo worked over Hawaii. WAMC reported that Polo sat off the peninsula's southern tip at the same time, giving the Pacific two simultaneous hurricane threats.

How did you do on the Wild Weather Quiz? Four or more right means you were paying closer attention to September's skies than most. Either way, the two storms are a reminder that hurricane season and nor'easter season can overlap, with a state of emergency declared on both sides of the country in the same week. Still in a quizzing mood? Try the Super Intelligence Quiz and the September Tech Quiz next.

Sources: CNN on Hurricane Nolo's approach to Hawaii, USA Today on the nor'easter's damage.