This Date in Weather History

The Depression of 1893 was one of the worst in American history with the unemployment rate exceeding ten percent for half a decade. The Depression of 1893 can be seen as a watershed event in American history. It was accompanied by violent strikes, the climax of the Populist and free silver political crusades, the creation of a new political balance, the continuing transformation of the country’s economy, major changes in national policy, and far-reaching social and intellectual developments. Between 1870 and 1890 the number of farms in the United States rose by nearly 80 percent, to 4.5 million. Farm property value grew by 75 percent, to $16.5 billion. The advancing checkerboard of tilled fields in the nation’s heartland represented a vast indebtedness. Nationwide about 29% of farmers were encumbered by mortgages. One contemporary observer estimated 2.3 million farm mortgages nationwide in 1890. But farmers in the plains were much more likely to be in debt. Kansas croplands were mortgaged to 45 percent of their true value. Under favorable conditions the millions of dollars of annual charges on farm mortgages could be borne, but a declining economy brought foreclosures, tax sales and adverse weather could tip the balance over the edge. Railroads opened new areas to agriculture, linking these to rapidly changing national and international markets. Mechanization, the development of improved crops, and the introduction of new techniques increased productivity and fueled a rapid expansion of farming operations. The output of staples skyrocketed. Yields of wheat, corn, and cotton doubled between 1870 and 1890 though the nation’s population rose by only two-thirds. Grain and fiber flooded the domestic market. The depression, which was signaled by a financial panic in 1893, has been blamed on the deflation dating back to the Civil War. The economy exhibited other weaknesses in early 1893. Then in the summer of 1893 agriculture was hit with drought, and the overproduction during the preceding half-dozen years had reversed the remarkable agricultural prosperity and expansion of the early 1880s in the wheat, corn, and cotton belts. The drought started in June 1893 with a blistering heat wave that got underway on June 21 1893 when the mercury topped out at 106 degrees in Dodge City, Kansas and the drought didn’t break for 3 years. The boom to bust cycle would repeat itself 4 decades later during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl in almost the same exact location.

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June 20, 1921: On June 20, 1921 the Billing Gazette reported that a man and a baby drowned and barns, granaries, houses and a bridge were swept away before an unprecedented downpour tapered off in McCone County, Montana. The 11.5 inches of rain that fell in 24 hours at Springbrook, near Circle, established a state record. That record stands today. Hot and humid air covered the great plans as winds all the way from the Gulf of Mexico pushed the summertime heat and moisture northward. Circle sits on the vast high flatlands that rise toward the Rockies and often times it gets covered with stifling heat and humidity. Temperatures can sometimes top 110 degrees. At the same time cold air can sweep down from Canada, even in the summertime and this causes violent clashes in the atmosphere. Those dynamics lead to the cloudburst and heavy thunderstorms that inundated the region on June 20, 1921.

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June 19, 1865: In the years leading up to the Civil War, Galveston Texas was a bustling port and the main United States port west of New Orleans. When New Orleans was captured by Union forces early in the Civil War, Galveston became, along with Mobile, Alabama the main Confederate ports on the Gulf. When Mobile fell in 1864, Galveston was THE main port on the Gulf. As such it was well fortified, but it was also cut off from the rest of the confederacy once the Union gained control of the Mississippi with the fall of Vicksburg. Galveston’s importance diminished as the war went on. So, it came to pass that at the end of the war, on June 19, 1865, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, finally landed at Galveston, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This was 2.5 years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation — which had become official January 1, 1863. Contrary to popular belief, the Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new executive order. When Granger’s regiment arrived, forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance. Specific weather records are scarce from that June day in 1865 in Galveston. But given the location of the docks in proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, it was clear that the day was relatively calm with sunshine and light breezes. The information that General Granger brought quickly spread and led to joyous celebrations among the now emancipated enslaved people and it all happened with no adverse weather conditions on that now rightfully celebrated day now known as Juneteenth.

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June 18, 1992: On June 18, 1992 heavy thunderstorms formed across the Mississippi River valley and headed eastward. Those storms reached Indiana late in the evening of June 18 producing heavy rains, gusty winds and hail. Flights all across the mid-west were already being diverted from some of the airports as the storms came closer. A one of the strongest storms approached Indianapolis the control tower at the airport was evacuated as the severe thunderstorm moved in. 1” diameter hailstones fell, a 62-mph wind gust was reported, and a tornado was spotted 2 miles northwest of the airport. Flights were sent on to other airports and traffic controllers in other cities had to take over the duties of those in Indianapolis for several hours.

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June 17. 1859: Sundowners — the equivalent of Southern California’s Santa Ana winds — blow over the ridgetops and through the passes of the Santa Ynez Mountains to flow downslope onto the coastal plains around Santa Barbara. These winds also occur in the Middle East where they are known as a “simoon” and is a strong, superheated and dust-laden wind its name derives from the Arabic verb ‘to poison,’ presumably because exposure to such temperatures could cause heat stroke. The bane of firefighters, they heat the air by compression as they push it downward against the land below, squeezing out its moisture and helping wildfires ignite and spread. Earning their name because they frequently appear in late afternoon and early evening, mild Sundowner winds can result in slight increases in temperature. But a few times a year, stronger Sundowners can bring sharp spikes in temperature, extremely low relative humidity and gale-force winds that force-feed wildfires. Half a dozen times a century, Super sundowners blast superheated air across the coastal plains at higher than gale-force speeds. Perhaps the most powerful Sundowner, was reported June 17, 1859, by the Coastal Pilot Newspaper of California. According to the report, the morning air temperature of 75 to 80 degrees rose steadily until about 1 p.m., when a series of superheated waves of wind blasted the Santa Barbara area. By 2 p.m., the air temperature reached 133 degrees and hovered there for three hours, killing small animals, destroying fruit, ruining gardens and heavily damaging trees before eventually falling to 122 around 5 p.m. People reportedly took refuge behind the 3-foot-thick walls of the Daniel Hill adobe, the casa grande at Dos Pueblos Ranch, and the adobe winery at San Jose Vineyard among other places. Rabbits, cattle, snakes, and deer died on their feet according to a government report, and fruit fell from trees to the ground, scorched on the windward side. Birds fell dead from the sky and others flew into wells in search of cooler air and drowned. The 133-degree temperature held the North American continental record for heat for decades until 1913 when Death Valley recorded a temperature of 134 degrees. 133 currently stands as the 3rd hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth.

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June 16, 1939: National Geographic reports that “Animal rain” is a real weather phenomenon that happens when small animals get swept up in waterspouts or updrafts, and then fall to Earth with raindrops. Reported rains of bats, fish, snakes, birds, frogs, and jellies stretch back for centuries. The phenomena most associated with animal rain are waterspouts, although many meteorologists are skeptical that waterspouts can actually cause animal rain. Waterspouts form as violent storm clouds swirl above a large body of water. These clouds form a tornado-like whirlwind that dips into the ocean, lake, or pond. Waterspouts can spin up to 100 miles per hour, and may pull up small objects in their funnel—water, pebbles, and small aquatic animals. A waterspout is not a swirling column of water—the water in a waterspout is the result of condensation, not liquid "sucked up" from a body of water. Strong updrafts may also pull animals into their swirling vortices. Updrafts can sweep up much larger animals than waterspouts—traveling birds and bats, as well as frogs, snakes, and insects. As waterspouts and updrafts move over land, they lose their swirling energy. The storm clouds that formed the waterspouts are forced to dump their heavy loads. The heaviest objects are dumped first, and the lightest objects usually simple raindrops are dumped last. This explains why reports of animal rain usually describe only one type of animal raining down. A cloud will dump all objects of a similar weight at the same time—fish heavy, followed by insects lighter, followed by rain. On June 16 1939 in Towbridge, England, such a rain occurred with reports that hundreds of tiny frogs fell before a heavy shower.

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June 15, 1879: McKinney, ND is a collection of hard scrabble farms just a few miles south of the Canadian border on the dusty high plains of North Dakota. Hard to find on any may, it’s barely am intersection where two farm highways meet. The vast flat land bakes in the summertime with temperatures often exceeding 100 and in the winter the mercury routinely dips below zero. Rainfall averages less than 20” a year. But on June 15, 1879 7.07” of rain fell establishing a record, incredibly on the same date of June 15 in 1897 almost 8” of rain fell establishing yet another record.

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June 14, 1903: According to the Oregon Encyclopedia the spring of 1903 was among the warmest and driest in memory for eastern Oregon. Sunday, June 14, was another hot day as the residents of Heppner, Oregon prepared for family suppers. By mid-afternoon, dark clouds were building in the hills southwest of town. At 4:30 pm, rain, and then hail, began to fall. The storm produced such a noise people could not hear the roar of the wall of water and debris that descended on the town. The Heppner Gazette reported: "Without a second's warning, a leaping, foaming wall of water, 40 feet in height, struck Heppner at about 5 o'clock Sunday afternoon, sweeping everything before it and leaving only death and destruction in its wake." The silt-laden floodwaters carried away everything in their path. The thick mass acted more like a battering ram than a flood of liquid. Homes floated off foundations and crashed into other structures, breaking apart and adding their debris to the flowing mass. By the time the flood waters receded, most of Heppner's residential area was destroyed and two-thirds of its homes were gone. The town's business district was wrecked with all but three of the town's businesses demolished. Newspaper reports gave disparate figures for the loss of life from the disaster. Early reports placed the death count as high as 500 persons. Eventually, 247 bodies were recovered, though many reports still list the casualty count at 251. Many surviving residents left Heppner following the disaster. The 1910 census showed a population of 880, down from the 1,400 living there in 1903. It was not until the 1990 that Heppner's population rebounded to pre-flood levels. 

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June 13, 1907: Temperature extremes are not unusual in the state of California. After all the highest reliably recorded temperature in the world, 134 was recorded in Death Valley on July 10, 1913. Temperatures of 130 or higher have been recorded as recently as 2005. The lowest temperature recorded in California was at Boca, in Nevada County, when a reading of -45° F was observed on January 20, 1937. That’s a difference of 179 degrees – but it’s not the great difference of any state, it only ranks 3rd, the record belongs to Montana, with a state record high of 117 and a record low of 70 below zero. But on June 13, 1907 in Tamarack, California the mercury plunged to 2 degrees above zero making it the coldest temperature ever observed in the US I the month of June. By the way 140” of snow were still on the ground in that Mountain community.

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June 12, 2014: On June 12, 2014 a hail storm that hit Abilene produced more than $400 million in insured losses to vehicles, homes and commercial property. "This is the worst storm damage I've seen in my 41 years in the insurance business," Leroy Perkins of the Perkins Insurance Agency in Abilene, told the largest state insurance trade association in the United States. the storm, packing baseball-sized hail, moved directly south across Abilene pounding the city's north side and downtown area. Commercial buildings downtown received millions of dollars in damage to roofs, windows and structures. Total uninsured losses are also expected to be high, Perkins adds. "Downtown looks like fall because all of the trees have been stripped of their leaves and many limbs down in the street," Karla Martin with the Taylor County Sheriff's Office said the day after the storm. Hundreds of vehicles, many of them new cars, were declared totaled from the beating they took. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) notes that hail causes approximately 1$ billion in damage to crops and property each year.

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