Weather History

This Day In Weather History

In 2008, what was, at the time, the second worst tornado outbreak on record, hit a 9-state area from the Southeast United States to the Ohio Valley. Comprised of 87 tornadoes, of which 5 were violent EF4s, the outbreak killed 57 and injured 425. It was the deadliest outbreak since the May 31, 1985 outbreak that devastated the Northeast United States and Southern Ontario when and where 76 were killed. Three tornadoes were especially noteworthy. One struck North Central Arkansas, where an EF4 killed 13. The tornado raced 122 miles across 7 counties and lasted 2 hours. The second, an EF3, hit Memphis, including part of the Airport where Federal Express service was disrupted. This tornado killed 4 and injured 36. The third was a violent EF4 that struck Jackson, Tennessee. Sixty were injured and Union University was devastated.

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In 1988, Roswell, New Mexico was overwhelmed with an all time record-setting 16.5 inches of snow in 24 hours. Strong winds and temperatures from 10 to 20 below zero produced wind chills from 70 BELOW to 80 BELOW ZERO across the Northern Plains.
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