This Date in Weather History

This Date in Weather History

By AccuWeatherHistory
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This Date in Weather History episodes

  • 1986: Severe and destructive storm strikes Texas
    Another Spring Day and another round of wild weather in the state of Texas. Severe weather is most prevalent in Texas in the Spring and May 24, 1986 was no different, severe thunderstorms blasted the area. Damage was heaviest from just north of Downtown Fort Worth and across the east side of town to southwest of Arlington where a roof collapsed over portions of a bowling alley injuring seven people. Windows were blown in with roof damage at motel across the street. Hail as large as golf balls blew in drifts two feet deep in spots. 3-5“ of rain fell in one hour, flooding many city streets in Arlington. A 29-year-old woman and her 6-year-old daughter drowned in their car, which was found submerged in an underpass. Other reports indicated that more than 3” of rain fell in one hour at Newark in Wise County. 95 mph winds were reported at WBAP Radio, Tarrant County. Baseball size hail fell near Ivan, Stephens County.

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    2 min
  • 1908: Record flooding impacts north and central Texas

    By May 23, 1908 4-8" of rain fallen across much of northern and central Texas in the preceding days on already saturated land especially on the upper Trinity and Brazos River Basins. The rise in the rivers continued for several days toward the end of the month. Large crowds of onlookers gathered on bridges all over Texas the view the unusual site of rising rivers. Most times the rivers were almost dry trickles or brief raging white water torrents spurred on by brief cloudbursts from thunderstorms. But the days and days of steady rains in the part of the state brought something unusual in the form of broad rising rivers not seen by most of the growing populace of Texas. Record floods resulted from the rain at Grand Prairie, Dallas and Rosser (38.0'). 3 people drowned in Fort Worth and 8 in Dallas.




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    2 min
  • 1933: 600-yd wide tornado destroys town of Liberal, KS

    The Dust Bowl was one of the greatest natural disasters to ever befall the United States, it devastated the Great Plains states in the 1930s. It is considered the worst drought to impact North America in 1,000 years. Unsustainable farming practices worsened the drought’s effect, killing the tall grasses that kept the soil in place. When winds blew, they raised enormous clouds of dust. It deposited mounds of dirt on everything, even covering houses. Dust suffocated livestock and caused pneumonia in children. Huge billowing clouds and dust were raised as dry storms ravaged the region. Some of the dust and dirt travelled thousands of miles blackening skies as far away as New York City and Boston. These so call Black Blizzards were usually caused by powerful storms that blew through the region. Most of any rain or snow associated with the storms fell far to the south along the gulf coast or spent itself over the Rockies. Occasionally though, a strong enough system would spawn a squall line of thunderstorms. Because strong winds usually raised clouds and dust ahead of the weather systems, the sky not visible. On one such occasion on May 22, 1933 a line of severe thunderstorms blew through Liberal Kansas. Tornados were imbedded in the storm’s clouds but those in its path were not aware and caught by surprise. In today’s time – warnings would have been issued because of current technology like radar, even if there were dust clouds. But no such early warning system existed then and a powerful tornado hidden in the total darkness of the dust storm moved into the town. The tornado was 600 yards wide at times. The business district of Liberal was devastated. 44 buildings and 165 homes were obliterated. 4 people were killed and 150 hurt.

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    3 min
  • The May 1957 Tornado Outbreak
    The May 1957 tornado outbreak took place across the US Central Plains from May 19 to May 21, 1957. An F5 tornado, the strongest on the tornado intensity scale, on May 21 was the most significant in the outbreak and is known as the the Ruskin Heights Tornado where the area where the worst of the damage occurred, a suburb and housing development south of Kansas City. 57 tornadoes were reported from Colorado to the Mississippi Valley and 59 people were killed during the outbreak. But in the Kansas City area and specifically Ruskin Heights the impact was devastating. The Kansas City Star reported in its story from the next day that “At least 31 persons were reported killed, at least 200 persons were injured and many were made homeless by a tornado which struck the southern part of the metropolitan area shortly after 7pm. Everywhere there were scenes of jumbled debris, death and chaos as rescue workers struggled in the darkness to rescue the injured and maintain some semblance of emergency aid. Observers at the disaster scene in Ruskin Heights said there could be no count of the number killed, missing or injured until daylight. Rescue workers had only flashlights and motor car lights to search through the wreckage. With roads blocked with debris and cars, workers were doing well to get ambulances out of the disaster area. Glenn Rapp, director of the American Red Cross disaster unit in Jackson County, said hospitals in the metropolitan area had reported more than 200 injured, and efforts were being made to compile the names as rapidly as possible. Witnesses told of cowering in what shelter they could find as the winds ripped away houses and buildings. Cars were piled in tangled masses of metal in streets, in parking lots and in used car lots.”

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    3 min
  • 2007: Temperature reaches 115°F in Sibi, Pakistan
    Extreme heat can be rather uncomfortable. But what actually happens to the human body as the mercury rises? On humid days, when the air is already saturated with water, sweat evaporates more slowly. This explains why it feels so much hotter in high humidity. When relative humidity reaches a high enough level, the body's natural cooling system simply can't work. Sweat evaporates very slowly, if at all, and the body heats up. According to the Mayo Clinic, the most serious level of this breakdown is heat stroke, and it occurs when the body’s temperature reaches an excess of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. During heat stroke, body functions grind to a halt, the brain shuts down the body’s natural coolant system, perspiration. Without sweat, the body can no longer keep its temperature in check, heat stroke causes the brain to swell, leading to headaches and even seizures in more extreme cases. Victims also experience an altered level of consciousness. The cardiovascular system is affected as well. Heat stroke causes blood pressure to drop and the heart to beat faster and more irregularly, heightening the risk for high-output cardiac failure. Heat-related deaths are one of the deadliest weather-related health outcomes in the world, in the United States an average of 658 people a year die due to extreme heat. AccuWeather’s patented RealFeel temperature is a measure that combines the effect of temperature, humidity and other factors. On May 19, 2007 in Pakistan, severe heat and humidity created deadly RealFeel temperatures. In Sibi, northwest Pakistan, the temperature reached 115 degrees with a dew point of 90; the RealFeel was 150 degrees, one of the highest ever recorded.

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    3 min
  • 1894: Severe storms and wind sinks 9 ships on Lake Michigan

    Ever since people have traveled the Great Lakes, storms have sunk ships and taken lives. In fact, the very first recorded sailing vessel on the upper lakes, was lost in 1679. Since that time, massive and historical storms have swept the lakes, most numerous in the month of November. With the coming of modern technology and stronger vessels, fewer such losses have occurred. The large surface of the lakes allows waves to build to giant heights out in the open. Strong winds can cause storm surges that lower lake levels several feet on one side while raising it even higher on the other. The shallowest lake, Lake Erie, sometimes sees storm surge rises of 8 or 10 feet. On May 18, 1894 one such storm and wind event struck the Lakes. On lake Michigan off of Chicago 9 vessels were sunk with an uncounted loss of life.



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    2 min
  • 1814: Logs in swollen Maine rivers cause destruction
    The state of Maine is known for many things, including my favorite, Maine lobsters. But one of the longest running industries in North America, dating back until the early 1600s is logging. The British Royal Navy quickly claimed the best stands of light and strong Eastern White Pine for the masts, spars, and planking for their fast and maneuverable ships. England's competitors, the French, the Dutch, and the Spanish, were left to build from the heavier Baltic Fir. It was Revolutionary War debt which boosted the first large scale harvests. To raise money, Massachusetts sold land to the District of Maine. Logging operations grew in proportion to the national demand for lumber products, which grew in proportion to the expansion of the nation itself over the 19th and well into the 20th centuries. The industry became extensive and complex employing surveyors to identify likely stands of trees, lumbermen to cut timber, teamsters and their draft animals to haul logs, scalers to measure the timber's worth, and river drivers to float logs to the mills. Most trees were felled in the late fall and winter and then floated downstream on Maine’s rivers to ports at the coast. These golden rivers, as they were called, because of their color appearance because of the logs and the money the wood would represent on delivery were covered from bank to bank with floating timber. Most of the time they were controlled by crews working the river. But as they floated downstream in the spring they would sometimes get loose and out of control. The result could be, and often times was disaster as the timber acted like a battering ram destroying anything in its path. On May 17, 1814 after a soggy April and early May the rivers were all swollen and the logs did their work wiping out anything in their path, destroying bridges and docks and any structures near the shore. It would take years to recover.

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    3 min
  • 1874: The Mill River Flood
    In 1865, a group of mill owners from the Northampton area of Massachusetts constructed a dam on the Mill River north of the town of Williamsburg, it was constructed by using a design drawn by one of the owners, a man with no training in engineering. The dam was poorly constructed and leaked as soon as it was filled, still it was in place for 9 years. But on May 16, 1874 after several days of heavy rain, the dam completely failed. Almost all off of the water held behind the earthen dam burst out like a wall of water. 139 people died in the towns downstream to the south.  The flood destroyed much of the villages of Williamsburg, Skinnerville and Northampton itself. Even though so many died, the death toll might had been much higher, but the dam keeper George Cheney, rode his horse at a gallop to Williamsburg to raise the alarm as the dam began to fail. Other riders took off from Williamsburg and were able to warn residents in towns to the south. Despite an inquest and the negligence of the mill owners, no one was punished for the disaster.  Even today, people still visit the site of the tragedy by hiking on a public trail to the former site of the Williamsburg Reservoir.

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    2 min
  • 1968: Five tornadoes strike Iowa
    During the late afternoon and early evening of May 15, 1968, five tornadoes, two F1s, one F2, and two F5s occurred in Iowa. These tornadoes were part of the May 15-16, 1968 outbreak with a total of 39 tornadoes which affected ten states; Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee. The tornadoes in Iowa caused 18 fatalities and 619 injuries of which 450 occurred in Charles City alone. The huge tornado, approximately a half mile wide passed directly through Charles City from south to north. The tornado destroyed, 372 homes and 58 businesses, 188 homes and 90 businesses sustained major damage, and 356 homes and 46 businesses sustained minor damage. Eight churches, 3 schools were damaged or destroyed, the police station was heavily damaged, and 1,250 vehicles were destroyed. About 60 percent of the city was damaged by the tornado. The, Iowa Governor requested federal assistance to repair damage to public facilities resulting from the and on May 29, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the state of Iowa as a disaster area.

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    2 min

About This Date in Weather History

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In this daily podcast, you’ll learn something new each day. AccuWeather Meteorologist, Evan Myers takes a look back on weather events that impacted this date in the past,…

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