Weather History

This Day In Weather History

In 1988, a blizzard rapidly developed in the North Central United States. In just one hour, Eastern North Dakota switched from sunny skies, light winds and temperatures in the 20s, to free falling temperatures and near zero visibility in snow and blowing snow. Winds gusting to 72 mph in Gillette, Wyoming produced sensational drifts 16 FEET HIGH. Northwest Iowa experienced its second blizzard in just 24 hours. High winds in Iowa sent wind chills tumbling to 65 below zero.

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In 1963, a great Arctic outbreak invaded the Deep South. Nashville, Tennessee set what, at the time, was an all-time record low of 15 below zero. The record was eclipsed on January 20th, 1985 by a low of 16 below that was broken just one day later by a low of 17 below on the 21st. On the 23rd and 24th, most of Kansas chilled out with lows ranging from 5 to 12 below.

In 2016, a historic 3-day blizzard finally ended for the Ohio Valley, the Mid-Atlantic States and the Northeast. It overwhelmed many areas with record snowfall. Parts of four states were buried by 3 to 3.5 foot accumulations. The greatest was in extreme Eastern West Virginia, where Glengary was overwhelmed by a phenomenal 3.5 FEET. The others were extreme Northern Virginia with 39 inches, Western Maryland with 38 inches, and extreme South-Central Pennsylvania where 38.3 inches buried Greencastle. Among the cities setting snowfall records were New York J F K Airport, 30.5 inches; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 30.2 inches; and Baltimore-Washington Airport, 29.2 inches. Several areas on the East Coast were whip-lashed by winds sustained from 50 to 60 mph with 70 to 85 MPH GUSTS. Damage was estimated at $2.5 billion and 41 people died.

In 1916, the temperature in Browning, Montana, located in extreme Northwest Montana, fell a mind-boggling 100 DEGREES in just 24 HOURS, from 44 degrees to 56 degrees below zero. It established a record 24-hour temperature drop for the United States.
This Day in Weather History Archive