This Date in Weather History

The December 7-8, 1703 Windstorm (November 26-27 on the old calendar still used in England at the time) was the most damaging to have affected the southern part of Britain for at least 500 years. The fame of the storm owes much to the fact that it cut a swathe of damage through London. 123 people were killed on land in England and Wales, due to the collapse of roofs and chimneys. 21 people were killed by falling stacks of chimneys in London, with 200 severely wounded and maimed. At least another 20 died in damage in continental Europe. Around 80 people are known to have drowned in their cottages in the marshlands. Even these totals are dwarfed by the estimated 8,000 killed in more than 100 shipwrecks at sea.

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For much of the country, the weather Hawaii was experiencing in the late stages of autumn 1941 would have been considered unseasonably warm, but in Hawaii, the mild temperatures and partially cloudy skies were common at that time of year. Nobody on the island of Oahu on December 7, 1941 expected there to be any significance to the weather conditions, but little did they know that the beautiful weather would lead to the start of a terrible morning.

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The National Christmas Tree is a large evergreen tree located in the northeast quadrant of The Ellipse near the White House in Washington, D. C. Each year since 1923, the tree has been decorated as a Christmas tree. Every year, early in December, the tree is traditionally lit by the President of the United States Every president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has made formal remarks during the tree lighting ceremony. In 1970 the 78-foot tall blue spruce from South Dakota’s Black Hills was carried to Washington, D.C. on a train. While en route, the train derailed twice. Then the weekend before the tree lighting ceremony, on December 6, 1970, the tree blew over in high winds and several cut branches had to be attached to the tree to replace damaged ones.

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On December 5, 1953, Vicksburg, Mississippi was visited by a tornado outbreak that was a deadly severe weather event that affected northeastern Louisiana, southeastern Arkansas, and western Mississippi. At least four confirmed tornadoes touched down. One of the tornadoes produced F5 damage as it moved through the city of Vicksburg, causing 38 deaths and injuring at least 270 along the seven-mile path of devastation.

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The North Carolina ice storm of 2002 caused up to an inch of freezing rain from December 4 into December 5 in central North Carolina. A total of 24 people were killed, and as many as 1.8 million people were left without electricity. Power outages began December 4, and power was not completely restored until December 14. Raleigh got the most freezing rain from a single storm since 1948, and Bristol, Tennessee received the most ice it had seen in 28 years. 

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The Great Smog of London, or Great Smog of 1952, was a severe air pollution event that affected the British capital in early December 1952. A period of unusually cold weather, combined with a large region of high pressure and windless conditions, collected airborne pollutants—mostly arising from the use of coal—to form a thick layer of smog over the city. It lasted from December 3 to December 9, 1952, then dispersed quickly when the weather changed. 

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Unusual early winter cold moved out of Canada in the last week of November 1896. Few low temperature records were set but the cold was persistent and held sway from Mississippi and Alabama across Georgia and all the way to the Carolina. Fortunately for the first few days of the cold outbreak there was no precipitation. On December 1, 1896 a reinforcing surge of air reached the region all the way from the Arctic, at the same time a storm was gathering strength on the Gulf coast near New Orleans. That storm system moved east northeastward across the southern portions of Alabama and pulled moisture out of the Gulf. Snow began to break out all across Dixie. When the storm departed on the evening of December 2, 1896 records for snowfall had been set in many southern cites for the month of December. 4 inches fell in Raleigh with more than half a foot of snow in Atlanta and 10 inches in Charlotte, North Carolina and Greeneville, South Carolina. Without any means to clear the snow from city streets commerce came to a halt for several days.

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Rain fell in San Francisco often in the first half of November 1876 and it would seem that the winter or rainy season along the west coast of the united States might turn out rather wet. December averages almost a dozen days of rain in the month with rainfall totals close to 4inches on the average. No rain fell on December 1, 1876, not on the second. In fact, not one drop of rain fell for the entire month as a persistent area of high pressure camped along the west coast for the entire month and into January deflecting storms to its north. No rain fell in area all across the northern half of California, not only in San Francisco but also Sacramento and even up in rainy Portland Oregon less than an inch feel for the entire month.

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In Buffalo, New York, during November, snow falls an average of 4.9 days and averages 7.9" of snow. In Buffalo, during the entire year, snow falls for 61 days, and averages 94.7". On November 30, 2001 the weather record books closed for the month in Buffalo. Amazingly no snow, not even a trace was reported for the entire month. This was the first time that happened for the city in the month of November since records first stared to be kept in 1871. Interestingly the previous November of 2000 was a record-breaking snowfall November for Buffalo with 45.6” recorded in the month, two Novembers in succession, one with the greatest November snowfall the next year, the least.

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Red River, New Mexico area has a rich history. Indigenous Apaches established settlements in the region hundreds of years ago. Fur trappers and prospectors moved into the area as they put River City, as Red River was first called, on the map. Hundreds of gold, silver and copper mines were carved into the mountain with names like Golden Treasure, Silver King and Black Copper. Red River's population soared. There were stores, a livery stable, two newspapers, a sawmill, blacksmith shop, barber shop, more than a dozen saloons, several hotels and boarding houses, a dance hall and a hospital. The mines played out eventually, but soon homesteaders outnumbered prospectors. Town gained new momentum by renting abandoned mining cabins to flatland visitors seeking refuge from the heat. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, ski areas soon started to develop. In those days without artificially made snow Red River and indeed ski resorts across the world relied on natural snowfall. Some locations fared well – but others would suffer from snow droughts and be ruined. Snow making in the United States started mainly in the eastern states after World War II. In the west, in places like Red River, snowmaking was still a novelty in 1975. On November 29, 1975 the ski season started off with a bang when 34” of snow fell setting up a great start to the ski season and also setting a New Mexico state record for a 24-hour snowfall.

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