This Date in Weather History

This episode brought to you by "Remarkably Remote" a new daily microcast from the experts at GoToMeeting. All about making work from home work for you. Add to your Flash Briefing on Alexa or subscribe on your favorite podcasting app.1837: The city of St. Louis, Missouri, is known as the “Gateway to the West.” It has this nickname because it was the starting point for the westward movement of people in the United States during the 1800s. It was a traveling hub for many settlers, hunters and others migrating west. The Gateway Arch now in St. Louis symbolizes the city’s nickname. St. Louis was where many wagon trains got organized that first began to head west on the Oregon Trail and to California. Even though Kansas City and Independence Missouri where other jumping off points, St. Louis was the last big city that many settlers encountered. The "Gateway to the West" was where these travelers could load up on supplies they couldn’t find elsewhere before heading through the vast western wilderness. April was a time or organization before waiting a few more weeks for the snow in the Rockies to melt. It all had to be timed just right because leaving too late in the spring might mean getting stuck in the mountains by the snow of the coming winter, and that could result in disaster. Nice Spring weather was the key to a good start. On April 2, 1837 the weather failed to cooperate dumping 17” of snow in St. Lois and as much as 24” in nearby towns just to the west. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode brought to you by "Remarkably Remote" a new daily microcast from the experts at GoToMeeting. All about making work from home work for you. Add to your Flash Briefing on Alexa or subscribe on your favorite podcasting app.1997: April snowfall in the northeastern sections of the United States are not unusual, but heavy snowfalls are rare. April snowfall totals average less than 5% of the season average in places like Boston. In fact, the normal snowfall in the month of April in Boston is less than 2”. In 1997 what would go into the books at the Great April Fools Day Snowstorm blasted up the East Coast. Cold air was already firmly in place across the region and this system pounded New England on April1, 1997. 25.4” of snow fell at Boston’s Logan Airport, and broke the all-time 24-hour snowfall record of 23.6" set on Feb 6-7, 1978. 100,000 people were left without power. This storm also made this April the snowiest on record, easily surpassing the 13.3” that fell in April 1982. Winds gusted to 72 mph on Blue Mountain, MA, and to 54 mph in Boston. In a 2-day period (Mar 31-Apr 1) Milford, MA picked up 36”, and Worcester, MA was buried under 33”. Parts of the Catskills in New York State picked up between 35 & 40”. In parts of Northwestern NJ, as much as 2’ of snow fell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the earliest chronicled winter storms to strike Upstate New York after the Revolution was the strong system that impacted the region on March 31, 1807. The Otsego Herald in Cooperstown , NY reported, and I quite “The wind roared in the forests similar to the sound of the great cataract, the air was alternately filled with snow and transient gleams from the sun.” Along the Atlantic coast high winds and rain was the scene in New York Harbor, The New York Post described the situation. From its pages it said: “Amidst the bustle along the ports, in securing vessels and getting out fenders, were seen hundreds with their dogs, killing rats, which had been routed by the high tide. Hardly a terrier in the city was unemployed; and we may safely say, not less than 1000 rats were destroyed on the eastside of town. Though this remark may, by some, be considered unworthy of notice, it will be of use, if a proper use of it – that is, by removing the carcasses of the animals before the sun operates on them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1843: In the 1820’s and 1830s just after Maine became a state after separating from Massachusetts, crop failures combined with cold weather caused some in New England to dream of warmer climates to the west. About this time Newspaperman Horace Greely was purported to have said “Go west, young man, and grow up with the country”? Many started the exodus for the Midwest. A major cradle of Midwestern settlement was Maine, Maine’s stony soil and the decline of its shipping trade pushed thousands of Mainers to get out just after it achieved statehood in 1820. The exodus was so bad that many newspaper editors in Maine wrote about the fear that the new state would actually be depopulated by “Illinois Fever” and the rush to lumbering towns along the Great Lakes — and then Oregon. Many of those Mainers and New Englanders settled in Indiana in addition to Maine. They were greeted by a period of mild winters for a decade or so, but I was not to remain that way. The weather pattern shifted back to a more typical Midwest cold and snowy winter. On March 30, 1843 2 feet was measured on the ground. Until this point, farmers and loggers of the region had thought the climate to be better than New England – where many had just originated. The winter of 1842-43 dashed their hopes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

According to NOAA, Ice jams are caused by melting snow and ice in the springtime. Warm temperatures and spring rains cause snow and ice to melt very rapidly. All this extra water causes frozen rivers and streams to swell up, and the layer of ice on top of the river begins to break up. The rushing river carries large chunks of ice downstream, and sometimes a group of ice chunks get stuck in a narrow passage of the river. The ice chunks form an ice jam, which blocks the natural flow of the river. Ice jams can be dangerous for people living in towns nearby. Because the river is blocked, the rushing water has nowhere to go and it can cause flooding in the surrounding area. On March 29th, 1848 a very unusual ice jam formed. Centered on that day for about 24 hours, Niagara Falls ran dry. The Niagara River was reduced to a trickle as a massive ice jam formed near Buffalo. Strong winds has blown ice from Lake Erie into the River entrance and completely blocked it. It was only when the ice shifted the next day that the water resumed its flow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A strong storm developed in the southeastern United States on the 27th of March 2005 and grew even more dangerous as it moved up the East Coast on March 28th before moving out to sea off the New England Coast. Heavy rain fell across the Philadelphia and New York City metropolitan areas on the 28th and set the stage for a one-two punch of flooding when a second storm arrived in early April. Poor drainage and urban flooding resulted from the storm on the 28th and some rivers also experienced flooding, especially in New Jersey, notably along the Passaic and Ramapo Rivers. Rainfall totals exceeded 3” in New York City and much of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. Most of the ground was still covered in snow from the winter season adding to the flooding woes. Further to the south on the tail end of the storm system sever weather broke out dumping 4” diameter hail in Raleigh North Carolina and striking Florida with heavy thunderstorms that dumped several inches of rain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The prairies and plains of west central Canada, like those on the plains of the central United States are subject to wide swings of weather. Geographic barriers like mountains and large bodies of water can block or deflect even large-scale weather systems. Ocean temperatures and currents impact the track of storms. The influence of abnormally warm or cold waters, known as El Nino and La Nina, off the west coast of the Americas results in abnormal snow and rainfall patterns across much of the North American continent. Sometimes, as slow-moving storms come toward ocean shorelines those storms almost bounce a bit off the coast directed away by the friction that winds encounter with landmasses. On the vast open plains of North America, no such impediments exist. That often times manifests itself in temperature extremes not expected at southern and northern latitudes. For example, Texas sees much colder weather than Florida. Canada will often see high temperatures not usually associated with that northern clime at certain times. On March 27, 1980 such and occurrence happened when Winnipeg, Manitoba reached an all-time March record high temperature of 74 degrees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Late season Nor’easters in March are often times the most powerful storms to strike the northeast. On March 26, 2014 one such storm struck New England. The strong late season winter storm brought howling winds and heavy snow to Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. Winds gusted as high as 82 mph on Nantucket, and more than 100 mph just off shore. The wind drove snow against buildings and homes plastering doors shut. Drifts of snow several feet high impeded emergency vehicles from removing trees and power poles brought down by the hurricane force winds. Most of the major cities in New England missed out on the heavy snow from the storm, but some offshore islands received almost a foot of snow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tornado Alley is that area in the United States that has more tornados than anywhere else in the world. Stretching from central Texas to Eastern South Dakota. Tornados are more likely in Texas and Oklahoma in the Spring, and then they are more numerous in the northern plains in the summertime. Fed by the contrast between moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and super dry air that blows down off the Rockies and the contrast in temperatures between the ground surface and midlevels in the atmosphere severe weather development is primed. This is most common in Tornado Alley and more common in southern areas early in the season. Oklahoma’s most active month is May, but March is the 4th most active of the year. Averaging almost as many tornados as July, August and September put together. It’s not unusual then for tornado to strike the same part of Oklahoma more than once in March. But what happened on this date in weather history on March 25, 1948 was unusual. A tornado struck Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City destroying 35 airplanes. Just 5 days earlier a tornado had also struck the air base destroying 50 airplanes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It had been a fairly snowy winter across Kansas and Missouri in the 1911-1912 winter season. By the later stages of March, Kansas City already had recorded more than 20” of snow including 15” earlier in March alone. Snow began to fall in the afternoon of the 23rd and by the time it ended on the evening of March 24, 1912 Kansas City experienced its greatest recorded snowstorm. 25” fell in 24 hours bringing the total snowfall there to more than 40” for March and 67” for the winter more than 4 times normal. Both the March and seasonal snowfall totals were records for Kansas City. Not far away in Olathe, KS 38” fell during that storm, a single storm state record. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On March 23, 1913 the rain started falling across the Mid-west and it didn’t stop for 4 days and 4 nights. The deluge resulted in epic flooding unequaled in American history before and after. Known as the Great Flood. The storm that formed in the nations mid-section had nowhere to move for several days, causing heavy rain over the four-day period between March 23 and March 26. By Wednesday, March 26, the storm moved east into Pennsylvania and New York, while heavy rain continued in the Ohio valley. The heaviest rainfall, 6 to 9, covered an area from southern Illinois into northwestern Pennsylvania. As the storm continued eastward, flooding began in New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Virginia. The Potomac River overflowed its banks in Maryland. 467 died in the floods and damage reached $147 million or almost $4 billion in 2020 dollars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The winter of 1935-1936 was a severe one with lower than normal temperatures. As of early March, it was estimated that the snowpack in Northern New England averaged about 7.5 inches of water. Deep snow also covered the ground across Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York state. Early in March 1936, a warm, moisture-laden front moved into the area from the Ohio Valley to New England and stalled, warming temperatures as well as producing heavy rainfall. As the snow started to melt and the rains fell streams and rivers began to fill and the ground became soggy and saturated.. But this time almost the entire snow cover from New England had melted and with the ground already water logged and the rivers full serve flooding ensued. In many locations, this was the most severe flooding that has ever been experienced. The height of the flood when the waters peaked was March 22, 1936. Floods in Pittsburgh where more than 6” than ever recorded, almost 9 feet higher in Hartford and many other locations on that day would see flooding records not surpassed since. 107 lives were lost and $270 million dollars in damage or more than $5 billion in 2020 dollars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

March 1868 started out relatively mild across the Eastern states. The winter of 1867-1868 had been a uniformly cold winter. Life was finally starting to get back to normal in the aftermath of the Civil War in the Northeastern states and the break in the winter early in March was welcomed as the harbinger of an early spring. In the middle of the month though, a storm took form across the nation’s midsection and as it rolled eastward arctic air moved out of western Canada, across the Great Lakes into the Northeast. With cold weather firmly in place the storm moved in and snow began to fall and quickly. Reports form the day indicted that 15-20” of snow fell at Philadelphia on March 21, Georgetown DE has an incredible 32” in just 16 hours. Many other parts of Delaware and New Jersey had close to 2 feet of the white stuff. The winter itself would go into the record books as the snowiest recorded up to that time. The storm on March 21, 1868 would bring seasonal snowfall totals to more than 80” in both New York City and Boston. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Often times wave patterns develop in the high atmosphere, the strongest winds in these waves are represented by the jet stream. These waves in the air like waves in the ocean have high and low points over time and space. From a geographical perspective the high point usually supports high pressure and the low points low pressure or storms. On the western side of the high pressure of ridging it’s usually warm and winds blow from the south, close to the center of the low point or trough of the wave there is storminess. When patterns like this develop to the extreme with great definition contrast in the waves in the wintertime there can be awesome extremes. One such extreme case happened On March 20, 1948. A trough or dip in the wave caused a massive storm to hit Alaska dumping heavy snow in Juneau, the states capitol where 32.5” of snow fell the heaviest ever there. Meanwhile far to the east in the eastern part of the US a ridge or rise in the jet stream resulted in record warmth across the Carolinas in some places like Raleigh and Greensboro, NC the mercury barely dipped below 70 for a low temperature setting records for the warmest March night every recorded there. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1958: On March 19, 1958. Rain began falling along the eastern seaboard as a weak storm moved across the Ohio Valley as that system approached the East Coast cold air was drawn into the storm from eastern Canada. The storm exploded. As it strengthened rapidly and the cold air settled southward all the way into the Mid-Atlantic states the rain changed to snow and more and more moisture was feed into the system from a strong jet stream that reached all the way down into the Gulf of Mexico.More than foot of snow covered many of the big northeastern cities from Philadelphia to Boston. Many of the northern and eastern suburbs received almost 2 feet of snow from the storm that would go into the History books as the ‘Eve of Spring Snowstorm”. Just south of the snow area in Washington DC and Baltimore had record rainfall of almost 4”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On March 18, 1925 perhaps the greatest severe weather event in the last two centuries was brewing. By the time the day was over what would be known as the Tristate tornado produced the single most devastating tornado ever. The tornado began near Ellington, Missouri and averaged 62 mph in forward speed as it moved northeastward. The tornado was 1 mile wide and was on the ground for 219 miles the longest continuous tornado path ever observed. 85 farms were destroyed near Owensville, Indiana, and the entire town of Griffin, Indiana, was totally destroyed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired in the towns of Lexington and Concord just west of Boston in April 1775. What started as a British victory as they looked for munitions stored by local militia turned into a British rout as American militia from all of New England converged on the area and drove the British back into Boston. Working all night on March 4 and into March 5, 1776 American forces moved the guns onto Dorchester heights that overlooked Boston. It gave the Colonials a commanding position that the British could not counter. British General William Howe then gathered some of his force of 11,000 troops onto ships to cross Boston harbor and attack the gun placements before they could be firmly established. Just as the troops had been loaded into the ships a huge storm hit and caused them to turn back. It gave the Americans time to firm up the guns and their advantage was established. The weather turned the tide. The British soon abandoned Boston, never to return during the rest of the Revolution. They evacuated on March 17, 1776, a day still celebrated in Boston. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On March 16, 1843 one the first winter storms to be documented to sweep out of the Gulf and Mexico and impact must of the eastern part of the nation was observed. At the start of the second week of March in 1843 arctic air moved southward out of the vast snowfields of the Yukon, down the east slopes of the Rockies and then spread eastward to the Atlantic seaboard. The cold air held for the next few days and on its southern flank, well south in the Gulf of Mexico a storm started to organize. That system strengthened rapidly and then blasted up the east coast, but far enough out in the ocean to keep most mild ocean air away from land. The result was snow from the Gulf of Mexico to Maine. This great snowstorm dumped 8” in Little Rock, AR; 10" in Memphis, TN and a foot of snow in Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Drifts reached 4-5 feet in New York City. Snow turned to rain then back to snow at Providence, RI. 4-6". All snow with punishing gales were recorded in Portland, ME. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the drought of the 1930s, the unanchored soil turned to dust, which the prevailing winds blew away in huge clouds that sometimes blackened the sky. These choking billows of dust – named "black blizzards". On March 15, 1935 one of the worst of these black blizzards stuck Amarillo, Texas with Suffocating dust;6 people died, many livestock starved or suffocated. Dust lay 6 feet deep in places. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The term blizzard has found a significant spot in our language. A blizzard is officially defined as a storm with "considerable falling or blowing snow" and winds in excess of 35 mph with visibilities of less than 1/4 mile for at least 3 hours. But the term wasn’t even invented until March 14 1870. The Editor of the Dakota Republican Vermillion South Dakota described the storm: "A violent snowstorm, driven by a heavy NW wind, and continued three whole days and nights. The weather was intensely cold and the heavy fall flying before a furious wind - blowing as only the prairie winds can blow - rendered traveling exceedingly uncomfortable and dangerous, if not almost impossible." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the decades prior to 1888 there had been no large snowstorm to impact the cities in the area. That all changed starting on March 11, 1888 and reached it’s height on March 13. In what would go down in history as the fabled Blizzard of ’88. The storm was slow to organize on the mid-Atlantic coast with 10” in Philadelphia, then it strengthened rapidly turning into a bomb cyclone. When the snow stopped flying the damage was done; more than 20” in New York 45” in Albany and New Haven Conn. New York City ground to a near halt in the face of massive snow drifts and powerful winds from the storm. At the time, approximately one in every four Americans lived in the area between Washington DC and Boston, more than 400 people perished in the storm. Even though it happened more than 130 years ago it is still the benchmark that all other storms are measured by in the region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In mid-March winter broke and it did so by completely flipping the script. Warm air started to build across the Plains states by March 10th the jet stream that had dropped far south in the United States bring cold air with it as it retreated quickly northward into Canada. That allowed the warm air out west to pour into the East. March 12 , 1990 saw unheard of record high temperatures. The mercury reached 90 in Raleigh, NC, 87 in Norfolk, Va. 86 on the beaches of Atlantic City. And amazing 95 in Baltimore Md, breaking a record that had stood for 100 years. Meanwhile cool air still helped out over New England and Long Island. While readings in northern New Jersey soared into the upper 80s, central Long Island was chilly. LaGuardia Airport, a mere 60 miles away in New York City reached no higher than 47. But the winter was clearly on the run on March 12, 1990 and no more artic air reached into the Eastern states until the following winter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tamarack, California sits up in the Sierras of that state at an elevation of 6,913 feet. Located just south of Reno and Lake Tahoe it is home to one of the premiere ski venues in the United States and even the world for that matter, and for good reason. Snowfall averages an incredible 443” a year. During the winter of 1911 the central part of California was impacted by one snowstorm after another. By March 11, 1911 snow on the ground measured an incredible 471” – the greatest snow depth ever measured in one place in the United States, a record that still holds today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dust from the Sahara Desert in Africa is the main source of dust in the atmosphere on a yearly basis across the world. The dust has its origins principally in the remains of centuries old dry lake beds, mainly in the country of Chad. This dust is presentient and often times lifts into the low atmosphere creating a general haze across north central Africa. Because of its presence, storms and seasonal or trade winds often pick up huge amounts of the dust and dirt and send it thousands of miles away from Africa – sometimes halfway around the world. On March 10 1869 a reddish snow fell all day across central France. Some locals panicked because they thought it was colored in blood. Africans and scientists knew better what the source of the red appearance. The origin of the red color was the dust raised from the dry lake beds of Chad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack occurred on March 9, 1862,. It was the first battle between ironclad warships. The Northern-built Merrimack, a conventional steam frigate, had been salvaged by the Confederates from the Norfolk navy yard. With her upper hull cut away and armored with iron, this 263-foot improvisation that resembled, according to one contemporary source, “a floating barn roof.” The ship had destroyed a fleet of wooden warships off Newport News, Virginia in the days leading up to the battle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On March 8, 2008, a major storm moving across the Tennessee Valley brought snow to the Midwest, strong thunderstorms to the Southeast and heavy rain and flooding the Northeast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was an active start to the month of March across the United States in 2017. But the most prominent event was a storm that moved out of the Rockies and into the Plains on March 7th. This system developed thunderstorms from southwest Minnesota to eastern Nebraska in the mid afternoon of the 7th, then the systems expanded from northeast Minnesota and western Wisconsin and southward to Oklahoma by the early evening. A powerful tornado also ripped through Oak Grove, Kansas, an outlying suburb of Kansas City. The tornado and attending thunderstorms tore apart the region damaging or destroying nearly 500 homes and building and causing 12 injuries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In early March of 1962 a massive storm developed along the Carolina Capes, instead of riding up and along the coast as usually occurs, that system was blocked by a large and building high pressure system over New England. The storm stalled and got stronger, the result was a strengthening pressure difference known as a pressure gradient, between the high pressure area and the storm. The result of such a pressure difference is usually a stronger and stronger wind flow and such a situation developed in 1962. That flow piled up massive amounts of water on the coast, not unlike a Hurricane. This weather situation held relentlessly for days and the result was massive beach erosion, especially along the New Jersey coast. Waves reached 40’ high and several resort islands, like Long Beach Island, New Jersey were cut in several places and new inlets opened up. It would take years for the Army Corps of Engineers to make the Islands whole again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On March 5, 1899, one of the most powerful Tropical Cyclones ever to strike Australia caused unimaginable damage. Cyclone Mahina was the deadliest cyclone in recorded Australian history, and also likely the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On March 4 1909, William Howard Taft was to be sworn in as the 27th President of the united States. The night before a fierce storm struck the East Coast and all but shut down travel. The blizzard left more than 10” of snow. The inauguration ceremony was moved indoors, into the Senate Chamber. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On March 3, 1994, a major storm belted the region; as much as 30” of snow buried parts of central PA. This intense storm resulted in the establishment of many seasonal snowfall records in the region. The snow was accompanied by frequent thunder and lightning in some locations. A snow avalanche buried 5 cars under 20 feet of snow, trapping the occupants for 28 hours before rescue in the Pennsylvania Mountains of Clinton County. 28" of snow fell at State College PA; 24" at Lock Haven, PA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The morning of March 2, 1975 dawned warm and humid across Georgia. As the day wore on in Atlanta temperatures continued to climb, meanwhile across the Mississippi Valley a strong cold front was heading eastward. As that system gathered momentum and pushed into the warmer weather a strong line of severe thunderstorms erupted across Alabama. By afternoon violent weather was approaching Atlanta and tornadoes developed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In late February 2007 arctic cold had most of the western half of nation in its’ grip at the same time warm and humid weather covered the eastern states. It was a classic set up of a clash of air masses that resulted in a violent weather outcome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You might think that the weather record books aren’t very full for a leap year day. After all it only happens every 4 years. But that’s not the case. February 29th occurs in the heart of the winter and the records are full of extremes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On February 28, 1994 an arctic air mass settled in over Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Record cold gripped the region. Burns Oregon recorded a low temperature of 22 below zero smashing the old record of 2 above. In Pocatello, ID the mercury reached 17 below, another record. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When storms strike in the rainy, winter season in Hawaii from December to February, snow and ice can accumulate on the mountains and even though the snow doesn’t stay around too long it can certainly keep those peaks white. Such a winter event occurred of February 27, 1997, when several inches of snow fell on the summits of Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa and Haleakala. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A storm churning up the Atlantic seaboard dumped several feet of snow across New England on February 26, 1645. With little help to clean or for that matter pack down the snow it was reported that travel was virtually impossible for 3 weeks. Courts and public meetings were suspended to almost the end of March. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the morning of February 25, 1961 until the next day sheets of rain pounded the Montreal area, at the same time cold air hugged the lowest several thousand feet of the atmosphere, and the result was one of the worst ice storms to strike North America. Many homes had no heat for more than a week. Water lines were impacted as well and many suburban areas were unable to get water because of the lack of power. Government authorities set up shelters in area schools to house thousands of people who had no heat, water or communication. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In February 1969 artic cold had been holding New England in its grip for most of the month and a series of storms had brought snow all across the region. In some places 1-3 feet of snow had already been reported in the first 3 and a half weeks of the month. It was only the beginning. On February 24, 1969 at 1:35am snow began in Boston. The snow continued, almost without let up for 5 days. By the time the snow ended just after noontime on February 28 26.3” was measured at Boston’s Logan airport right along the water. But much heavier amounts were recorded just inland, from areas in Boston, like Roxbury to places like Malden and also Lexington and Concord of Revolutionary war fame, the storm brought 40-50” of the white stuff. 77” was recorded at Pinkham Notch in New Hampshire, bringing the February snowfall total to 130” and the total snow depth to 164”. It took New Englanders the better part of the next week to dig out from the great 5-day snowstorm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On February 23, 1802 a great snowstorm raged across New England, by nightfall when the snow stopped flying, drifts in places near Boston piled up to 4 feet high. People were left to fend for themselves to dig out of places which efforts took nearly a week. This eventually led to the development of snow-removal practices. Before the mid-1800s, there wasn’t really any effort to get snow off roads. Before 1862, people didn’t use snow plows, they used snow rollers. The way people travelled through snow was by attaching skis to their horse-drawn carts and carriages. Snow rollers were huge, horse-drawn wheels that would flatten out the snow, making it easier for the carts with skis to move through the winter roads. But by the mid-19th century, as cities were rapidly growing in population, city streets needed to be entirely clear of snow for the business of the city to continue. And with this, came snow plows, first used by the city of Milwaukee in 1862. Early snow plows were horse-drawn, and would deposit the compacted snow in huge piles on the city’s streets and sidewalks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fog and low clouds have been the bane of travelers since the beginning of time. As more people travel in groups and because of modern technology those going from place to place sometimes find themselves at the mercy of the low clouds and fog with no way to escape. Such a tragedy struck on February 22 1901 when a Pacific mail steamer struck a rock in near San Francisco as it attempted to enter the bay during a dense fog. The ship went down claiming 128 lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1971 had been a relatively mild winter east of the Mississippi. Many areas had been bathed in warmth and humidity for much of February. Such was the situation on the morning of February 21. Meanwhile bitter cold that had been locked in the Arctic regions of Canada was finally able to break free as the jet stream, that up to the point in the winter has remained far north, finally plunged southward. As the brutal cold moved into the nation’s heartland it came into direct conflict with the early springtime conditions. In areas where the cold became quickly established snow developed and tuned into an all-out blizzard. By the morning of February 22 1-3 feet of snow-covered areas from Texas to Iowa, including drifts to 20 feet high. But the most violent impact of the clash of airmasses occurred in the warm sector where a vicious tornado outbreak killed 212 people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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The Pineapple Express is a non-technical term for a meteorological phenomenon characterized by a strong and persistent flow of moisture and associated with heavy rain and snow from the waters near the Hawaiian Islands and extending to locations along the Pacific coast of North America, mainly California. Such weather patterns set up every few years during the winter, that is actually the rainy season on the west coast of the US. In February of 1980 and extreme version of this pattern set up and lasted for almost a week reaching it’s zenith on February 19. Rain had been falling in Los Angeles in the first in a series of storms pushed along by the Pineapple Express first began Feb. 13th. Downtown L.A. has recorded more than 12" of rain in that time period. In the mountains south of Monterey, 22.24” of rain totaled by the 19th. Unofficially, 19 deaths were attributed to the storms of the previous week in Southern California alone, with over $100 million in damage, more than $325 million in today’s dollars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A massive storm developed in Georgia, on February 18th,2016 spreading snow up the Appalachians and into New England. Blizzard conditions developed in Pennsylvania by the 19th. These conditions forced a closing of Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania. Winds clocked at up to 50 mph during the storm shipped snow into drifts as deep as 20 feet in some sections of north Central Pennsylvania. Tides of 6-8' above normal caused severe flooding at coastal areas along the east coast north of Virginia. Thousands became homeless in New England due to coastal flooding. Breakers a 8-ton concrete seawall blocks in across coastal roadways in Maine. Winds clocked to 110 mph at Eastham on Cape Cod. This massive storm said to have some hurricane characteristics, such as an eye. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Dust Bowl is generally associated with extreme drought and heat. The "Dust Bowl" years of 1930-36 brought some of the hottest summers on record to the United States, especially across the Plains, Upper Midwest and Great Lake States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

February 16, 1958 marked the end of a massive snowstorm that had developed in the lower Mississippi Valley a few days earlier. By the morning of the 16th already more than a foot of snow was on the ground in DC.. 2’ pf snow clogged Boston by the evening of the 16 with an incredible 30-36” from the Catskills in New York to the White Mountains of New England. After the storm moved out to sea later that night the toll was staggering 43 had died and more than $500 million dollars of destruction, more than $4.5 billion in today’s dollars was totaled. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Texas Gulf coast is know for hot steamy weather and has been the site of some of the most destructive and deadly hurricanes ever to strike the United States, but on February 15, 1895 arctic cold plunged into the south with a vengeance. 15, 1895 a record snowfall was measured from Texas to Alabama: Rayne, Louisiana recorded 22" a state record; Houston, also had, 22"; an incredible 15.4” feel on the beaches of Galveston, Texas, there was 8.2” in New Orleans, Louisiana, 8.2"; 6” in Brownsville, and Mobile, Alabama. Nothing like it has ever been seen since. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On February 14, 1958 in Haleyville, AL 16” of snow fell, an extreme snow event for that area of the country. The weight of the snow was extremely heavy and it caused many chicken coops in the poultry region to collapse leading to the crushing of many of the chickens inside. The coops were not constructed to withstand the heavy wet snow that fell, since the entire average winter’s snowfall in the region was a mere 1-2”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By February 13, 1899 much of the nation had been suffering under the icy grip of the worst artic outbreak since the founding of the republic. Records that stand today had been set in previous days and more were to fall in the next few days. The temperature on the morning of February 13, 1899 along the Gulf coast sat at incredibly low readings; -16 degrees Minden, LA a record for state, in New Orleans the mercury was 6.8 degrees; at in Mobile -1 degree; Pensacola 7 degrees; Brownsville Texas was 12 degrees all time low for the city. Temperatures all the way southward to Ft Myers were in the 20s and snowflakes where observed all across Florida. But father up the East Coast the brunt of the outbreak was being felt as a Great Blizzard paralyzed the region on the 13th and 14th Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.