"September is the month {in New England} of the supposed occurrence of the equinoctial, or "line storm.'' The time-honored concept of an annual storm in late September goes back among seafaring men to the middle of the eighteenth century and perhaps earlier. It was believed that a major storm always occurred when the sun crossed the equator, or "line''; any storm coming a week before or after was so classified.''
From The Country Journal New England Weather Book, by David Ludlum
Editor's note: Most of these "line storms'' were probably weakening hurricanes moving northeast off the Eastern Seaboard.
