During January 1924, a strong nor’easter was battering the Jersey Shore. At Lakehurst, the 680-foot-long dirigible Shenandoah was anchored to its almost 200-foot-high mooring tower like a giant windsock.

This was taking place as part of a series of tests to see if the tower could hold the airship in bad weather. A number of similar towers were proposed to be erected along the West Coast that would permit the airship to leapfrog its way to the North Pole.

On Jan. 16 after several days of high winds, the storm seemed to be winding down.