This Date in Weather History

The Preservation Society of Charleston, South Carolina reports from the South-Carolina Gazette, September 19, 1752 the following description: “The mid-September, 1752, cyclone was "the most violent and terrible hurricane that ever was felt in this province." Strong winds began the evening of September 14, becoming more violent as the storm blew closer. Rain sluiced down steadily through the early morning, and a terrifying night gave way to a horrifying day. The storm surge poured in about 9:00 AM, overflowing seawalls and creek beds. Before 11 o'clock, nearly all the vessels in Charleston Harbor were on shore, some driven into the marsh, some riding the flood to crash into wharves and buildings. A ship blew up Vanderhorst’s Creek as far as Meeting Street, carrying away a corner of the “new Baptist house” near the creek. Only the HMS Hornet, a fourteen-gun sloop of war, rode out the storm. Water had risen more than ten feet above the normal high-water mark, the sea covering the entire peninsula, and high tide was not expected for another two hours. With many houses flooded neck deep, panicked people fled to the upper floors and "contemplated a speedy termination of their lives." Their reprieve was deemed an act of Providence. The wind shifted, the tide ebbed, and the water flowed out as quickly as it had come in (the South-Carolina Gazette reported it fell five feet in ten minutes). By three o'clock Friday afternoon, September 15, the wind had died completely and the storm was gone. The hurricane "reduced this Town to a very melancholy situation." Although there are no accurate figures of the deaths or injuries, many drowned; others were killed or dangerously injured when houses fell apart. An estimated five hundred buildings were destroyed completely; broken chimneys, lost roofing tiles and slates, shattered windows, and dislodged foundations were universal. All the wharves and piers were smashed, every building upon them beaten down and carried away. Likewise, fortifications along the waterfront sustained heavy damage, most of their cannon dismounted. Granville's Bastion was "much shaken, the upper part of the wall beat in, the platform with the guns upon it floated partly over the wall." In the account just reported it can be concluded that the eye of the storm, mostly likely a hurricane can very close to Charleston. The rapid rise of the water pushed into the town from a storm surge near the storm’s center and then as the storm passed the wind shifted from the southeast off the ocean to the northwest and pushed the water out to sea rapidly are all indications of a direct hit by the eye of the storm. September 15, 1752 when one of the one of the first accounts of the direct hit of a hurricane was reported in North America.

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The Rising Sun Hurricane struck Charleston, South Carolina in mid- September in 1700. Typical of a powerful hurricane making landfall, the storm cut a swath of devastation through the region. This hurricane, however, is best remembered for the eyewitness account detailing the destruction of the storm’s namesake: the Scottish warship, Rising Sun. The Rising Sun was on a return trip to Scotland. The passengers were the remnants of a failed Scottish colony in Panama. The ship ran afoul of a hurricane, while sailing through the Gulf of Mexico. The fierce weather dismasted the Rising Sun, and the ship limped northward, seeking a port to repair the damage. On September 3, the Rising Sun arrived outside of the Charleston Bay, but an underwater sandbar prevented the heavy warship from entering. The Captain dropped anchor, set the crew to lightening the ship. The hurricane arrived as repairs were underway. Edward Hyrne, resident of Charleston, detailed the events that followed in a letter to his wife. Safe in a home overlooking the bay, Hyrne watched as the storm wreaked havoc among the ships throughout the bay, writing, “the greatest mischief fell amongst the shipping, of which about a dozen sail of all sorts were riding at anchor before the town, some of which were driven on shore and broke all in pieces, some were carried a great way up into the marshes and one driven clear over the point of land which parts two rivers into Ashley River, in her way breaking down a pair of gallows from which eight pirates at once were hanged since my coming here.” The fate of the Rising Sun, was covered in Hyrne’s description, and he wrote, “The greatest and most deplorable loss of all was that of a great Scotch ship called the Rising Sun, which … was riding at anchor outside the sand bar, with design to come in here and refit…. The storm rose and she foundered at anchor, the captain and all the Scots on board, being about 100, miserably perishing.” The hurricane had sent the warship up onto the beach, slammed it into pieces, and all of the Rising Sun’s passengers and crew swept out to sea and drowned.

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By August of 1857 is was evident that something was going very wrong in the American economy. U. S. banks had invested heavily in businesses that were failing. Not only were investors beginning to panic by even small depositors were getting very nervous. The investors were losing heavily in the stock market and railroads were unable to pay their debts. Land speculators who had counted on the construction of new railroad routes were also losing money. People feared financial ruin. Everyone ran to the banks to withdraw their money, people demanded that the debit be paid not in paper money, they wanted gold. A huge shipment of gold was due to reach the banking centers in New York City arriving on a steamer from the gold fields of California by mid-September allowing the banks to pay off some of the debit and steaming the tide of the financial panic. Meanwhile a tropical storm was first observed east of the Bahamas on September 6. It moved slowly northwestward toward the coast of the United States and attained hurricane strength early on September 9. The storm continued travelling northwest along the US coast, becoming a Category 2 hurricane off the coast of Georgia on September 11. On September 13 the cyclone made landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina, but then quickly weakened to a tropical storm and turned eastward into the Atlantic on September 14. Meanwhile, on September 11, the hurricane struck the steamer Central America which sprung a leak and eventually sank in the early morning hours of September 13, 1857 with the loss of 424 passengers and crew. Also, on board the ship were 30,000 pounds of gold bound for the banks of New York City to pay off the depositors. It contributed to what would follow. More than 5,000 American businesses failed within a year, and unemployment was accompanied by protest meetings in urban areas. Eventually the panic and depression spread to Europe, South America and the Far East. No recovery was evident in the northern parts of the United States for a year and a half, and the full impact did not dissipate until the American Civil War revived the economy in the north – and the south took a hundred years to recover.

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On August 29, 1960, the storm that would become Hurricane Donna formed near the Cape Verde Islands off the African coast. It would go on to cause 150 deaths from Puerto Rico to New England over the next two weeks. On August 31, Donna attained hurricane status and headed west toward the Caribbean. It was a Category 4 hurricane by the time it reached the Leeward Islands on September 4. Donna left a path of destruction across on Puerto Rico and a portion of the Bahamas before turning northeast toward Cuba and the Florida Keys. Donna punished Cuba, one hundred and twenty people lost their lives in there when evacuation plans were not carried out properly. On September 9, winds with speeds of up to 200 miles per hour battered the Florida Keys before Donna skipped back to the Atlantic Ocean. The storm then rode the Florida coastline, causing 13 deaths in Fort Myers and Daytona Beach. The state’s grapefruit and orange crops also took devastating blows and almost half of the largest mangrove tree forest in the United States was lost. It was the strongest storm to hit Florida until Andrew in 1992. On September 12, Donna battered the Outer Banks on North Carolina and was still a Category 3 hurricane. It stared to move quickly, it hit the New England coast on the night of September 12, 1960, still with hurricane force winds. Blue Hill Observatory, MA, had a wind gust of 145 mph. It is the only hurricane on record to produce hurricane force winds in every state that has a coast line on the Atlantic Ocean. Florida received the most damage from Hurricane Donna. Portions of southern and western Florida received over 10 in of rainfall from the hurricane. In the state of Florida, the storm destroyed 2,156 homes and trailers, severely damaged 3,903, and inflicted minor impact on 30,524 others. Winds as strong as 100 mph were observed along the coast of New Jersey. Damage from the storm was most severe in Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth and Ocean counties, where numerous boats, docks, boardwalks, and cottages were damaged or destroyed. A resort area in Cliffwood beach, New Jersey saw its boardwalk and tourist attractions destroyed by the hurricane, and the area has never recovered to this day, 61 years later. Losses to agriculture were significant, with damage to apple and peach trees "considerable", the former of which lost about one-third of its crops. Wind damage to corn and sorghum resulted in a delay in their harvest.

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September 11, 2001 was a horrific day for the United States and the world. The day of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. It was also a heroic day when passengers fought back and prevented even more destruction and loss of life. The visuals of it all were made possible by the weather. It was a bright, blue and pristine day across the eastern United States. Humidify was low with no haze or clouds. Visibility was unlimited, clear to the horizon. Those that seized the controls in the cockpits that day where easily able to see their targets. The ensuing crashes and destruction were also visible from afar and the horror easily seen. Because the next few days remained clear as a large high-pressure system perched itself over the east coast toxic dust was able to hang in the air much longer than if rain fell and washed the air clean. The plumes of smoke and dust in New York City and Washington DC continued to be seen. Those that died that day and those that worked to find victims and clean up and then suffered, and those that ran into the collapsing buildings are remembered again today. They are no less honored than those that also gave their last measure as American soldiers on battlefields across the world.

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Tropical systems do not typically bring high winds or heavy rain to the southwestern United States. Most Pacific Tropical storms and Hurricanes are embedded in easterly winds, and move westward—away from large land masses—until they dissipate over cold waters. Rare is the tropical system to impact Los Angeles. A large area of thunderstorms, with a diameter of about 500 miles formed 270 miles southwest of Acapulco in early September, 1976. Moving rapidly west-northwest, the formed into tropical depression on September 7. While turning and moving toward the east,  the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Kathleen. On September 9, Tropical Storm Kathleen was barely a tropical storm. Shortly thereafter, Kathleen turned north-northeast into warmer waters and the tropical storm began to re-strengthen. Despite moving rapidly north, it strengthened into Hurricane Kathleen. Kathleen's forward motion accelerated to speeds of 35 mph on September 10, 1976. Unlike the few tropical systems that make it as far as California, Kathleen weakened only slowly as it moved northward over the state. It moved across Death Valley and on September 11, entered western Nevada. Its impacts were significant and, in some places, devastating. In a region not prone to heavy rain and especially not accompanied by strong winds the damage was severe. On September 10–11, gale-force winds caused considerable damage to the city of Yuma. For a time, the sustained winds exceeded 50 mph. California received record rainfall, with almost 15” falling in the mountains of Southern California. Officials evacuated 175 people from the flooded area of Ocotillo and the nearby communities that surround the Salton Sea; the sea rose 8 feet in 3 hours.  A quarter mile of Interstate 8 and a 60-foot bridge were destroyed by the flood, which also washed away mobile homes, trucks, and cars. In Los Angles, two people died of injuries suffered from slippery roads. Palm Desert received more than a year's worth of rainfall in a matter of days. Flash flood warnings were also issued for parts of California, as well as nearby states Nevada and Arizona.

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The 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane was destructive and powerful and swept across a large portion of the US east coast in September 1944. An area of tropical thunderstorms was first identified well east of the Lesser Antilles on September 4, the disturbance only became well organized to be considered a tropical storm on September 9 northeast of the Virgin Islands. Moving west-northwest, the storm gradually intensified and reached peak intensity as a Category 4-equivalent hurricane on September 13 north of the Bahamas after curving northward. A day later, the storm passed by the Outer Banks and later made landfall on Long Island as a weaker hurricane on September 15. Passing close to the Outer Banks, strong winds were reported across eastern North Carolina, and knocked out telecommunications networks on the Outer Banks. Small homes were leveled by the winds. The hurricane was infamous for the amount of damage it caused along the New Jersey coastline. The shore towns on Long Beach Island, Atlantic City and Cape May all suffered major damage. Long Beach Island, Barnegat Island and Brigantine all lost their causeways to the mainland in the storm effectively cutting them off from the rest of New Jersey. Additionally, both islands lost hundreds of homes. In Atlantic City the hurricane's storm surge forced water into the lobbies of many of the resorts famous hotels. The Atlantic City boardwalk suffered major damage and in some places was deposited several blocks inland from the beaches. My mother-in-law and her family rode out the storm in a rooming house 2 blocks from the beach, protected by pieces of the boardwalk that logged against the structure. Both the famed Steel Pier and Heinz Pier were partially destroyed by the hurricane with only the Steel Pier subsequently rebuilt. Rain totals of 7 inches occurred in Hartford Connecticut and the city of Bridgeport saw the greatest official total at 10.7 inches. Tobacco and fruit damage in Connecticut totaled to about $2 million, with similar overall damage costs occurring in Rhode Island. A total of 28 people died throughout New England as a result of the storm. On September 9, 1944, the storm that was officially upgraded to a tropical system would, in the next week result in one of the greatest destructive hurricanes on record for the resort beach towns of New Jersey.

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One of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history hit Galveston, Texas, on September 8, 1900, killing at least 6,000 people, many more likely perished, that is because the storm caused so much destruction on the Texas coast that reliable estimates of the number of victims are difficult to make. Some believe that as many as 12,000 people perished, which would make it the deadliest day in American history.

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The summer of 1881 had been be brutally hot and dry across the Mid-west and into the eastern states. Because of the conditions and other factors massive forest fire had erupted in parts of Michigan early in September culminating in the Great Thumb fire in Michigan on 5 and 6th. It resulted in a yellow sky in the major eastern cities on September 6 because of the smoke and haze in the air. Strong, dry winds fueled the fire. No notable fires broke out in the east on September 7, 1881, but it sure felt like something was burning. Record heat scorched most of the big cities up and down the eastern seaboard setting record that still stand today 140 years later. The mercury soared to 101 degrees in New York City; 102 degrees in Boston, MA; 104 degrees in Washington DC a September record; 102 degrees in Philadelphia also a September record and the latest 100 degrees ever. Modern air conditioning wouldn’t be invented for almost another 20 years in 1902 by Willis Carrier and it wasn’t until the mid 1920’s that mass viable air conditioning was truly available. Prior to that, people have to rely on more conventional methods to cool off like going to the beach or a pool and as those folks did in the great September heat wave of 1881 – wait for autumn to arrive.

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The Thumb Fire took place on September 5, 1881, in the Thumb area of Michigan. The fire burned over a million acres in less than a day, was the result of drought, hurricane forces winds, heat and that after effects of the Port Huron Fire of 1871 and the ecological damage wrought by the era's logging techniques. The blaze, also called the Great Thumb Fire, the Great Forest Fire of 1881 and the Huron Fire, killed 282 people in 4 counties in northeastern Michigan. The damage estimate was more than $2 million dollars or $100 million in 2021 dollars. The fire sent enough soot and ash up into the atmosphere that sunlight was partially obscured at many locations on the East Coast of the United States. In New England cities, the sky appeared yellow and projected a strange luminosity onto buildings and vegetation. Twilight appeared at 12 noon. September 6, 1881 immediately became known as Yellow Tuesday or Yellow Day due to the ominous nature of this atmospheric event.  August and the first days of September 1881 were hotter than usual, and the Thumb had had a rain deficit since April. There were forest fires beginning in mid-August. On Monday, September 5, the town of Bad Axe in Huron county burst into flames. Winds spread the fire on September 6 consuming most of Huron and surrounding counties. In 1881 Clara Barton, founded the American Red Cross. The organization's first official disaster relief operation was its response to the Michigan "Thumb Fire" of 1881.

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