This Date in Weather History

On September 19, 1992 a lightning bolt struck a high school football player on the practice field in Silver Springs, Maryland and smashed his football helmet. 40 other players felt the shock. Amazingly no one was seriously injured.

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On the morning of September 18, 1926 the eye of category 4 hurricane passed over downtown Miami and parts of Cocoanut Grove and South Miami.

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On the afternoon of September 17, 1923, just about everyone in Berkeley California had taken note of the uncommonly warm, dry wind blowing in from the northeast. What they didn’t know was that a small grass fire over the hill in Wildcat Canyon was growing fast, leaping from grass to brush to tree—and it was about to crest the hills of North Berkeley. When it did, near Berryman Reservoir, the fire was a half mile wide. A thick black cloud came pouring over the hill, followed by surging flames pressed low by warm, gale-force winds, known as Diablo winds.

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The Okeechobee hurricane of 1928, also known as the San Felipe Segundo hurricane, was one of the deadliest hurricanes in the recorded history of the North Atlantic basin, and the second deadliest hurricane in the United States, only behind the 1900 Galveston hurricane. The hurricane killed an estimated 2,500 people in the United States; most of the fatalities occurred in the state of Florida, particularly in Lake Okeechobee. 

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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. By three o'clock Friday afternoon, September 15, the wind had died completely and the storm was gone.

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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. 

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A tropical storm was first observed east of the Bahamas on September 6, 1857. It moved slowly northwestward toward the coast of the United States and attained hurricane strength early on September 9. The storm continued traveling 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.

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On August 29, 1960, the storm that would become Hurricane Donna formed near Cape Verde 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 Sea. 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.

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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 sized 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 coat 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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 On September 9, 1976, 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.

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