This Date in Weather History

 By mid-August, there were 1,000 to 3,000 fires burning in Idaho, Montana, and Washington. August 20, 1910 brought hurricane-force winds to the interior northwest, whipping the hundreds of small fires into one or two much larger blazing infernos. Such a conflagration was impossible to fight; there were too few men and supplies. The National Forest Service was only five years old at the time and unprepared for the possibilities of the dry summer or a fire of this magnitude, though all summer it had been urgently recruiting as many men as possible to fight the hundreds of fires already burning, many with little forestry or firefighting experience. 

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On August 19, 1896 one of the best documented sightings ever recorded of a waterspout occurred. It was visible by thousands of people about 8 miles north of Chappaquiddick Island, off the coast of Massachusetts. Three spouts altogether occurred between 12:45PM and 1:25PM. The largest of the 3 lasted 18 minutes with a diameter estimated at 240'. Water was agitated to a height of 400' and column was 3600' high.

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Hurricane Diane was one of three hurricanes to hit the North Carolina coast during the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season. The system began as a tropical wave over the Atlantic Ocean, which developed into a tropical depression on August 7, 1955. Overall, between 180 and 200 total fatalities were estimated to be a result of Hurricane Diane. Although it was difficult to estimate total damages stemming from Hurricane Diane, it was determined that the floods and other impacts from the hurricane caused $1 billion in damage or almost 10 billion in 2020 dollars, making it the costliest hurricane in U.S. history at the time.

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On August 17, 1969, a half a century ago, Hurricane Camille slammed into the Mississippi coast, the storm still remains one of the most powerful and costly hurricanes on record to make landfall in the United States. Camille was the second-most-intense hurricane to hit the U.S. and remains one of only 4 category 5 hurricanes to strike the mainland U.S. The storm resulted in at least 259 fatalities and caused nearly $1.4 billion in damages at the time, which equates to more than $10 billion 2020 dollars.

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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 - Detroit, MI dropped to 46 degrees - new record low, breaking 1885 record. Kansas City, MO reached down to 56 degrees and broke a 1929 record low. Also, the lowest August high temperature ever at only 63 degrees. 

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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. 

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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.  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.

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