This Date in Weather History

San Bernardino, CA sits between Los Angles and the Sierra that run to the east. Located in an almost desert like region San Bernardino, California still manages to get 13 inches of rain, on average, per year from a combination of showers that drift westward from the mountains and large-scale winter storms that move in off the Pacific Ocean. In the period from 2018-2020 several inches of rain have fallen in the city each year after a very dry decade that led to water restrictions across the state of California, that of course was before this extreme drought year of 2021. But back on August 16, 1909, dry weather ensued after a rain shower the day before. The next day the residents of San Bernardino saw rain was May 6, 1912. A total of 884 days, or almost 2 1/2 years later in one of the driest periods in California history.

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The winter of 1978-1979 had been particular cold and snowy across the mid-west and eastern states. The summer remained cool and autumn seemed to come early on August 15 1979 when an unusual August chill hit – the temperature in Detroit, MI dropped to 46 degrees - new record low, breaking an 1885 record. Kansas City, MO reached down to 56 degrees and broke a 1929 record low. Also, on August 15 the high temperature only reached 63 degrees in Kansas City the lowest August high temperature ever in the city. Cincinnati, OH reached a low of 49 degrees, Indianapolis, IN - 45 degrees, Fargo, ND – 43. Many folks in that part of the county we left wondering if the cold was here to stay, after all the previous few summers had also been chilly and now this record cold on August 15. The winter that followed was also on the cold side – but the chill did not continue in what would become one the greatest reversals in United States climate history – just months later the summer of 1980 turned out to be one the hottest ever recorded in America, rivaling the intense heat of the Dust Bowl.

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Huge billowing thunderstorms are commonplace across the Great Plains and often times just to the east of the Rockies. Fueled by tropical moisture flooding northeastward out of the Gulf of Mexico the humid weather provides the moisture needed for the storms the build. The catalyst is chilly air in the high atmosphere that has its origins in the artic regions. That cold air high aloft comes spirting down along the east slopes of the Rockies out of Canada. The swirling and twisting motion in the high atmosphere where they clash is fertile ground for storms. Many times, winds blowing down off the Rockies tend to suppress the biggest storms – but when those winds subside monster storms can form. On August 14, 1890 Thunderstorms with torrential rain and massive hail hit Colorado Springs, Colorado; 3.15” of rain fell in a little over an hour, hail lasted 15 minutes and covered the ground to 6”. The mercury plunged from 75 to 47 degrees in just 4 minutes after the hail began.

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The appearance of a blue sun is triggered by volcanic dust, smoke from forest fires, desert dust, smog and other forms of pollution. Wavelengths of visible light that are blue in color become scattered from the rays of the sun reflected off of smog, smoke, or ash particles. The phenomena are extremely rare because the particles suspended in the air scatter blue wavelengths only when they are of a particular size. Smoke, volcanic ash and smog often provide clouds that are gray in color, setting the perfect backdrop for blue light to scatter off the particles composing the cloud. The size of these particles must be less than 0.85 micrometers, which is very tiny (0.03 thousandths of an inch!). The sun can take on a greener hue when the particles are larger than 1.1 micrometers. Reports of a blue sun have occurred in Egypt in December 2006, as a result of smoke from farmers burning brush. According to the AccuWeather.com Almanac, that notes historical weather events, the southern U.S. observed a blue sun that continued for several days in August of 1831 centered on August 13. This event likely happened as a result of local forest fires in Virginia, but the August 13 blue sun is said to have been "a signal" taken by Nat Turner to begin his rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. Nathanial “Nat” Turner was an enslaved man who led the rebellion of enslaved people on August 21, 1831. His action set off a massacre of up to 200 black people and a new wave of oppressive legislation prohibiting the education, movement, and assembly of enslaved people. The rebellion also stiffened proslavery, anti-abolitionist convictions that persisted in that region until the American Civil War. The blue sun that prompted the rebellion, hardened positions and helped hasten the conflict between slaver holder and abolitionists that brought about the Civil War and ultimately emancipation. Reports of a blue sun came from Egypt in 2006, as a result of smoke from farmers burning brush. In 1978, dust storms in Mongolia are said to have caused a blue sun to be visible in Beijing, China.

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Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert. It is one of the hottest places on Earth, along with deserts in the Middle East and the Sahara. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North America, at 282 feet below sea level. Interestingly it is only 85 miles east-southeast of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States, with an elevation of 14,505 feet. On the afternoon of August 12, 1933, the mercury reached 127 degrees making it the highest temperature ever recorded in the United States in the month of August, but it was not close to the hottest it has ever been there. On July 10, 1913, a recorded and verified a high temperature of 134 ° was reached at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, that stands as the highest air temperature ever recorded at the surface of the Earth.

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Hurricane Allen was a rare and extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that struck the Caribbean, eastern and northern Mexico, and southern Texas in August 1980. The first named storm and first tropical cyclone of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season, it was the fifth most intense Atlantic Hurricane on record in terms of barometric pressure, behind Hurricane Rita, the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, Hurricane Gilbert, and Hurricane Wilma. It was one of the few hurricanes to reach Category 5 status on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale on three separate occasions, and spent more time as a Category 5 than all but two other Atlantic hurricanes. Allen is the only hurricane in the recorded history of the Atlantic basin to achieve sustained winds of 190 mph thus making it the strongest Atlantic hurricane by wind speed. Until Hurricane Patricia in 2015, these were also the highest sustained winds in the Western Hemisphere. In Texas, the storm surge was reported as high as 12 feet at Port Mansfield, though it may have been higher elsewhere along the Texas coast. A peak wind gust of 129 mph was also measured at Port Mansfield. Tropical storm-force winds in Corpus Christi, Texas blew roof gravel through the city, which led to substantial glass breakage to the 18-story Guarantee Bank Building and a 12-story wing of Spohn hospital. The storm caused seven deaths in Texas and 17 in Louisiana, most resulting from the crash of a helicopter evacuating workers from an offshore platform. Allen spawned several tornadoes in Texas. One tornado caused $100 million in damage when it hit Austin, Texas, making it the costliest tropical cyclone-spawned tornado in recorded history. Overall, however, the storm caused limited damage in the United States due to its suddenly diminished power and because its highest tides and winds hit a sparsely-populated portion of the Texas coast when it came ashore on August 11, 1980. Allen dumped 10 inches to 20 inches of rain in south Texas, ending a summer-long drought during the Heat Wave of 1980.

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The Battle of Saratoga occurred in September and October, 1777, during the second year of the American Revolution. It included two crucial battles, fought eighteen days apart, and was a decisive victory for the Continental Army and a critical turning point in the Revolutionary War. It was the first major victory for the colonists and led to the signing of The Treaty of Alliance with France on February 6, 1778, creating a military alliance between the United States and France against Great Britain. Benjamin Franklin had been in Paris working to secure the alliance and the Battle had help swing opinion to the side of the Americans and exhibited their ability to take the fight to the British. So, it then happened that on August 10, 1778 a slow moving hurricane headed up the east coast of the Colonies. The storm resulted in extensive damage in eastern NC, and then moved up the coast offshore. At the time the French and British were ready to square off in a pitched naval battle off the coast near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. This is was to be one of the first battles that the French took an active part in after the signing of the French-American alliance. As the Hurricane battered the ships the French ships were larger and sustained the heaviest damage. The smaller British ships had a chance to capitalize on the situation avoiding the worst of the storm by their greater maneuverability but because of the severity of the storm they were blown away from the French fleet and had to re-group over the next few days. The severity of the hurricane cost the British precious time to press their advantage of maneuverability and greater numbers. By the time the British squadron had come back together on the 13th more French ships had arrived on the scene and an opportunity lost,. The French now controlled that part of the coast in a significant aide to the American Revolution.

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Hurricane Belle was a Category 3 Atlantic Hurricane in August 1976. The storm, at one point, had winds around 120 miles per hour before it moved northward up the East Coast of the United State. The storm formed on August 6; it became Tropical Storm Belle on August 7. Later on, August 7, it became a hurricane.  On August 9, Belle's winds peaked at 120 miles per hour. Because of Hurricane Belle's proximity to the United State, hurricane watches were issued from Georgia all the way up to Maine. The hurricane brushed the North Carolina coast with. Unlike most storms that threaten the Northeastern United States, Belle didn't accelerate as it came closer to land. In the late-night hours of August 9, Belle came ashore as a minimal hurricane near Jones Beach on Long Island then crossed Long Island Sound and hit New England, with gusts hit 87 mph at Bridgeport, CT. Belle took twelve lives when it struck the East Coast of the United States. Damage was $100 million ore almost half a billion in 2021 dollars.

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The War of 1812 that is often called the Second War of American Independence and is viewed as an American invasion by Canada. Americans recall the “Star Spangled Banner,” and the Battle of Fort McHenry and the Battle of New Orleans. But there were significant naval actions on the Great Lakes. The catastrophic sinking of USS Hamilton and Scourge 200 years ago by a sudden squall turned the advantage to the British for a time. Both ships came to rest intact on their keels in 90 meters below the surface of Lake Ontario. On 7 August 1813 on Lake Ontario, the British and American forces engaged in a deadly maneuvering. Commodore Chauncey commanded the American squadron of at 13 sailing ships – many poorly re-outfitted formed commercial vessels, and Sir James Yeo commanded six British vessels; both maneuvered their ships to gain the weather advantage. While outnumbered by the Americans, Yeo had the advantage of commanding purpose-built naval vessels crewed by seasoned men and commanders. He was however, at the disadvantage of being armed primarily with carronades, leaving him half the firing range of his American opponent. Yeo sought to cut off one or two of Chauncey’s schooners, while his opponent sought to engage him with full force. Neither succeeded, however and only a few shots were actually exchanged. The winds shifted and failed throughout the day; Scourge’s crew employed sweeps to maintain position in the line. At nightfall, Chauncey grouped his fleet, and kept men at quarters in case of attack. With the wind from westward, Chauncey took his ships up wind to avoid falling in with the enemy during the dark. This indicates that both schooners Hamilton and Scourge had some sail employed when the squall came upon them, the just after midnight on August 8 1813, as the sudden squall ensued and hit the squadron it sunk both the USS Hamilton and Scourge and turned the tide of domination to the favor of the British on the lake for several months.

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On August 7, 1918 World War I was stalemated in Europe. The Allies, including the United States, Britain and France and the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary had been deadlocked in trench warfare for several years. The fields of northeast France were no-man’s lands. Unbeknown to the Germans the flood of a million American troops who had recently entered the war were preparing with their Allies to launch the great 100 days offensive that would sweep the Germans before them and end of the war by November. It had been hot summer across Europe, but that did not compare to the heat building in the northeastern United States that August. Factories had been running at breakneck speed in the US to produce war material, but for a few days at the end of the first week in August 1918 those production lines were put on hold as extreme heat held the region in its blast furnace grip. On August 7, 1918 the mercury topped out at 107 in Wilmington, DE, the hottest ever there and 106 in Philadelphia, also the highest temperature ever recorded in the City of Brotherly love. Flemington NJ reached 108 degrees, an August state record. Cooling didn’t arrive for several more days when the factories resumed production to supply the armies that were fighting at what was called at the time “the war to end all wars.”

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