This Date in Weather History

A large tornado slammed into a section of I-44 east of Tulsa during the early evening hours of April 24 1993. The Washington Post reported that the storm blew cars and trucks off the interstate highway and damaged dozens of homes that evening, killing at least 10 people, injuring at least 50 and leaving hundreds homeless. "This was not a storm that stayed down and then went back up. It stayed down for several minutes and totaled the area," said Jerry Griffin, an inspector for the Tulsa County Sheriff's Department. That area was about a mile wide and two miles long, he said. At least 80 mobile homes were demolished at a trailer park in a Tulsa suburb. Two major truck stops on Interstate 44 were scattered piles of rubble. Sheets of metal were wrapped around whatever poles were left standing. Families who escaped from their vehicles at one truck stop walked around dazed, clinging to pillows, blankets and other possessions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 23, 2013 was more than a month deep into the Spring, but Old Man winter wasn’t quite done with depositing a new round of cold weather into the Great Plains. The weather during the middle of April in the mid-section of America had been mild, field work had already gotten underway. But far to the north across the arctic lands of Canada cold weather had been building for more than week. At the start of the third week of April it was unleashed southward, bringing a cold wave more typical of mid-winter. On April 23, 2013 all across Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota the mercury plunged into the single digits. Reaching down to 1 above at Big Sky Montana, 8 at Huron SD and 9 in Lander Wyoming. In Wichita, Kansas 0.2” of snow fell. This marked the latest measurable snowfall on record. The old record for the latest measurable snow was set 95 years earlier on April 20, 1918. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1980 brought the United States one of the worst heat waves in its history. The intense heat and drought wreaked havoc on much of the Midwestern states and Southern plains throughout the summer of 1980. It is among the most devastating natural disasters in terms of deaths and destruction in U.S. history, claiming at least 1,700 lives and because of the massive drought, agricultural damage reached $20 billion or almost $65 billion in 2022 dollars. The heat wave began in June when a strong high-pressure area began to build in the central and southern United States allowing temperatures to soar to 90 degrees almost every day from June to September. The high-pressure system also acted as a cap on the atmosphere, stopping the development of thunderstorms, leading to exceptionally severe drought conditions. The heat wave broke only when the decaying Hurricane Allen disrupted the weather pattern. In some areas the spring got a jump start on what was to come. On April 22, 1980. The mercury reached 100 degrees in Waterloo, Iowa the highest temperature ever recorded in the state of Iowa in the month of April Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dust devils, are small, brief whirlwinds occurring most frequently in the early afternoon when a land surface is heating rapidly. Dust devils are occasionally made visible by the lofting of dust, leaves, or other loose matter from the ground. Dust devils form when a pocket of hot air near the ground rises quickly through cooler air above it, forming an updraft. If conditions are just right, the updraft may begin to rotate. As the air rapidly rises, the column of hot air is stretched vertically, which causes intensification of the spinning effect. Most dust devils are usually small and weak, often less than 3 feet in diameter with strongest winds averaging about 45 miles per hour, and they often dissipate less than a minute after forming. On rare occasions, a dust devil can grow very large and intense, sometimes reaching a diameter of up to 300 feet with winds in excess of 60 mph and can last for upwards of 20 minutes before dissipating. Dust devils typically do not cause injuries, but rare, severe dust devils have caused damage they typically occur in dry, arid areas with the most common being Arizona, New Mexico, Eastern California. But on April 21, 1963, the combination of prolonged dry weather along the eastern seaboard and strong southerly winds transporting hot weather from the southern United states resulted in a dust devil in Reading, Pennsylvania. The giant dust devil extended up to half a mile high, tore bricks from the side of a school, uprooted trees and downed power lines. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Strong temperature contrasts and violent weather outcomes in the springtime in the United States are generally unique in the world. Vast flat-lands that start as in the great coastal areas of Texas and Louisiana gently roll northwest from there into the Great Plains on the central United States and extend up into Canada. Weather systems can traverse the region unencumbered by mountains or large bodies of water. In the spring cold air is still left over from the departing winter, lurking in northwest Canada, in the Yukon. Meanwhile heat from the coming summer is building across Mexico and even Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. When strong winds in the high atmosphere pick up speed and start to bend in great wave patterns and the heat is drawn northward and cold southward in a great dance and battle between the competing seasons. The result of this clash often manifests itself in wild and extreme weather. On April 20, 1982 such a setup became established. In the warm sector violent thunderstorms erupted. At Richland in central Mississippi, strong thunderstorm winds blew over trailers. In Central Texas, baseball sized hail fell at Burnett and hail the size of grapefruits pounded Cedar Park. As much as 4" of rain fell over northern Louisiana and northeast Texas, and flooding occurred around Nacogdoches, TX. A tornado touched down at Lake Travis to the west of Austin, TX. Tornadoes were sighted around Lake Charles, LA near and near Moss Bluff. Meanwhile in the cold sector Northwestern Wisconsin was covered by more than a foot of snow. Weyerhaeuser, WI received 16”, with 15” at Barron. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the early morning hours of April 19, 1775, Paul Revere was making a mad dash through Middlesex County just west of Boston. He was trying to avoid British patrols but was stopped by one briefly before making his getaway, the roads were soft and muddy from the heavy rains of the previous day and he was able to elude his captors. It was not last time the weather would play a part in that fateful day. Revere galloped from town to town, from farm to farm to warn that the British regulars were coming to seize the stores of powder and shot local militias had been hiding to defend themselves from British tyranny. Rouse them he did. As the author Rick Atkinson states in his book “The British Are Coming”, and I quote. “Across the colony, in an image that would endure for centuries, solemn men grabbed their firelocks and stalked off in search of danger” The British left Boston and rowed across the Harbor to Charlestown and started the march to Lexington. There in Lexington, they encountered a band of local militia, and when the patriots assembled refused orders to disperse the British fired. The colonials were routed. The British then marched on to Concord, where thousands of militia from all over New England had gathered, warned by Revere and other riders. The British found themselves out gunned and outflanked. The first pitched battle of the revolution turned into the colonial victory. The British had planned to bring about their small cannon with them to teach the rebels a lesson. That ordnance would have come in handy that day. But the roads were still soft and muddy on April 19, 1775. Even though the sun was out, it was a chilly Spring day because the cold front that had brought that rain the day before. The canons got stuck in the mud on the road from Boston and had to be left behind. The battle perhaps turned on the muddy road and the rainy weather from the day before. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Those are the opening lines of the immortal poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride”, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It was one of my father’s favorite poems and  Those are the opening lines of immortal poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride”, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It was one of my father’s favorite poems and because of that I memorized it when I was 7 years old. Revere’s task was to ride through the countryside and call out the country-folk to arms to resist British tyranny. As the poem said, Revere was across Boston Harbor in Charlestown to watch the steeple of the Old North Church in Boston to see if the British were going to march out of Boston on land or take boats across the harbor and through Charlestown. It would warn the local militia’s which route the British would take. If one lantern was hung, then they would march over land, but two would signal the water and across the harbor. Most of April 18, 1775 was cloudy and rainy in Boston, the visibility was not good. Revere was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to see “Old North” as it was known. But late in the evening a cold front moved across the region, and by the time of the signal, the weather cleared and the visibility was excellent. Revere saw the two lanterns clearly across on the opposite shore and rode into history.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Boston, Massachusetts averages just under 2” of snow for the month of April. Given is proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the warming effects of the water, big snowstorms in April are uncommon – but not rare. On April 17, 1821 such an uncommon event occurred as a strong storm system slowly lumbered up the eastern seaboard. Cold air held sway over New England, the storm swung northward but was far enough out to sea to prevent the warming effects of a flow of air off the ocean. The big counter-clockwise swirl of winds around the system blew from the north northeast and off the land reinforcing cold air from eastern Canada rather than an east flow off the warmer ocean. The result was a foot of snow and the snowstorm prevented the Legislature from opening for several days. The storm also brought 3” of snow in New York City and 16” to Worcester, Massachusetts. Interestingly the 12” of snow in Boston is not the most snow there from a single storm in April, that record belongs to April 1, 1997 when more than 25” blanketed Beantown. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On April 16th, 1851, a strong nor'easter smashed into Cape Cod, and brought the highest waters ever seen in that area up to that the time, easily besting the high tides of 1723. The system went into the history books as "The Lighthouse Storm.” Heavy gales and high seas pounded the coasts of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The storm arrived at the time of a full moon, and the high tide was already well above what would be termed normal for the coast. That evening, the newly-constructed Minot's Ledge Lighthouse was destroyed by this massive storm. The storm weakened the tower's iron support piles, causing them to collapse and topple into the ocean off the coast. The lighthouse keeper, had been away in Boston when the storm struck. Onlookers on April 17 could only see the bent iron pilings where the lighthouse once stood. The two assistant lighthouse keepers, bravely kept the lighthouse lamp burning as late as 10:00 PM on the night of April 16th to warn ships of the nearby rocks just before they were swept away in the storm’s massive waves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1912 was a year of promise. The start of World War I was still two years away and science and technology were ascendant, with the outlook that humans had finally conquered nature, and their inventions could overcome anything. Albert Einstein had already been working on his theories around relativity that would revolutionize Physics. In practical terms, the first decade to the 20th century saw the invention of the vacuum cleaner, the air conditioner and the electric washing machine. It seemed like science was triumphant. It was with that attitude that British White Star Line commissioned the building of the largest ship ever constructed. The Titanic. The ship would have every technological advantage and be unsinkable. It left the British Isles at Queenstown, Ireland, on Thursday, April 11, 1912 on its maiden voyage. The weather awaiting the Titanic in North America was cold. In Boston, a few thousand fans shivered as snow flurries fell and the Red Sox beat Harvard University 2-0 in the first game ever played at Fenway Park. On April 12, the winds were west-southwest at about 20 mph and the noon temperature was about 60 degrees where the great ship was on the Atlantic Ocean. As the ship continued west, the skies got cloudier as a weak cold front approached. The noontime temperature on Saturday, April 12, was still at 60 degrees, but another cold front (associated with those Fenway flurries) was to the west and north of the ship. As the Titanic passed through the second cold front on Sunday, April 14, the winds switched to northwest and increased to 25 mph. The noon temperature was 50 degrees, but by 7:30 p.m., the temperature had dropped to 39. On Sunday, nighttime temperatures dropped below freezing, and the skies cleared and the winds calmed. A large Arctic air mass was now over the area on the clear, star-lit night with subfreezing temperatures and calm winds that resulted in a sea “like glass.” Icebergs were known to be in the region, but the calm winds made spotting them difficult. To spot icebergs during the night, lookouts searched for wind-driven waves breaking around their bases, but because of the calm weather this effect did not occur. The ship struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. Sunday, April 14. While the seas were relatively calm, that NW flow of air behind the front and actually steered a giant ice field toward the ship that night. The ship hit the iceberg that has been estimated as possibly weighing up to 300,000 tons, and the ship’s hull was torn wide open. It then took less than three hours from that point for the Titanic to sink. The temperature of the water was estimated to be as low as 28 degrees – even lower than the conventional 32-degree freezing point, as salt helped to lower its freezing point. Even though many people went into the water and survived the initial crash and sinking, the extremely cold-water temperature caused almost all in the water to suffer hyper-thermae and die quickly. Just hours before the wind has been west and the coldest water had not been pushed around the great ship. The water temperature may have been as high as 50 which would have allowed people to survive much longer in the water. At 2:20am on Aril 15, 1912 the Titanic slipped below the water. The unimaginable had happened, the unsinkable ship went to the deep. Faith in the promise of technology and science was shaken. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The National Weather Service reports that Hail is a form of precipitation consisting of solid ice that forms inside thunderstorm updrafts. Hail can damage aircraft, homes and cars, and can be deadly to livestock and people. Hailstones are formed when raindrops are carried upward by thunderstorm updrafts into extremely cold areas of the atmosphere and freeze. Hailstones then grow by colliding with liquid water drops that freeze onto the hailstone’s surface. Hail falls when it becomes heavy enough to overcome the strength of the thunderstorm updraft and is pulled toward the earth by gravity. Although Florida has the most thunderstorms, Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming usually have the most hailstorms. The area where these three states meet – “hail alley” – averages seven to nine hail days per year. Other parts of the world that have damaging hailstorms include China, Russia, India, Bangladesh and northern Italy. The largest hailstone recovered in the United States fell in Vivian, South Dakota, with a weight of 1 lb. 15 oz. But the world’s heaviest hailstone fell on April 14, 1986 in the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh. It likely fell to the ground at 90 mph and it weighed 2.25 lbs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The New York Times reports that chatting on the telephone connected to a land-line during a thunderstorm can electrocute you, it is no urban legend. A bolt of lightning that strikes a telephone line can cause an electrical surge to shoot through the wires and enter a handset. The odds of this are relatively small, and most phone companies have protective measures in place. Still, the risk exists, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recommends that people avoid using telephones and other appliances during electrical storms. Cases of customers' being jolted while on the phone in a storm are well documented. In fact, on April 13, 1981 a person was killed while talking on the phone in Kincaid, IL when lightning struck an outside telephone line and traveled to the house via a phone line; the phone exploded. What about cell phones? Because the danger comes from lightning traveling through outdoor wiring, cordless and cellular phones are generally safe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The average annual snowfall in Philadelphia is slightly more than 22”. In April, Philly averages a half an inch of snow and there is measurable snow in April there only once every other year. 1841 was not so kind to Philadelphia. Unusual late season cold lingered for much of the month and a series of storms swept out of the Gulf of Mexico and up the East Coast of the United States bringing one snow event after the other. 6” of snow fell in the city on April 10th  and 3” fell on Aril 13 and 14th, but the heaviest snowfall occurred in between those two systems when a foot of the white stuff piled up on April 12, 1841. Almost 20” of snow fell on Philadelphia in April 1841 – the average for an entire winter season. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On April 11, 1999 more than 3” of rain fell in Hong Kong during a cloudburst as heavy thunderstorms pounded the region. Streets were flooded and stores were forced to shut. The 3” of rain was more than Hong Kong had received in the first 3 months of 1999. As it turns out that is only half as much rain as is normal in Hong Kong from January to March when more than 6” is normal – still not a huge amount of rain. But rainfall is abundant, in Hong Kong when looked at through the lens of a full year. In fact, the normal yearly rainfall is around 94.5 inches per year. The rainiest period is from May to September, when the rainfall exceeds 12" per month in the city, while the least rainy period is from November to January, when it drops below 2 inches per month. To put that in perspective, Hong Kong’s 94.5” per year towers over places in the United States that are considered rainy like. Seattle, Washington with 38” average rainfall a year or 62” in Miami or 64” a year in New Orleans.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The winter of 1995-1996 in the Northern part of the United State just didn’t seem to want to end. Cold air lingered on well past the start of Spring. April was cold in that region of the country, especially New England and the first half of the month seemed more like winter than Spring. At the start of the second week of April temperatures were below freezing most nights and even during the daytime, readings had a tough time reaching 40. Meanwhile a strong storm was organizing off the coast of South Carolina and started to make its way up the coast, but a bit offshore, but close enough to first push snow on to the southern New Jersey coast dumping almost 5” of the white stuff on Atlantic City, an April record. The storm took a turn a bit to the northwest and pushed snow into New York City, JFK Airport had 4” of snow. But the heaviest snowfall was reserved for New England. By the time the snow stopped flying on the evening of April 10, 1996 Boston had 6”, Worcester, Ma 16” and Storrs, Conn 17”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tornadoes have been recorded on all continents except Antarctica. The United States has the most tornadoes of any country, as well as the strongest and most violent tornadoes. A large portion of these tornadoes form in an area of the central United States. Canada experiences the second most tornadoes in the world. Other areas of the globe that have frequent tornadoes include significant portions of Europe, South Africa, Philippines, Bangladesh, parts of Argentina, Uruguay, and southern and southeast Brazil, along with northern Mexico, New Zealand, and far eastern Asia. Bangladesh and the eastern parts of India are very exposed to destructive tornadoes causing higher deaths and injuries. On April 9, 1993 several tornadoes ripped through the India in the State of West Bengal killing 100 people and injuring 400. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the early days of April 1938 arctic cold that had been building and was bottled up in Alaska and the Yukon came crashing southward along the east slopes of the Rocky Mountains. The wintry chill reached cities like Cheyenne and Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo and then smashed eastward enveloping Omaha, Wichita and Amarillo. The cold modified as it headed eastward but held firm for several days from Montana to New Mexico and eastward into Nebraska, Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. Meanwhile off the coast of southern California a storm was brewing. That system headed eastward and spread a blanket of snow from Arizona and New Mexico into west Texas. The storm slowed and eventually stalled for several days in Texas. Moisture came streaming into the system from off the Gulf of Mexico and lifted up and over the cold air in place. The result was an all-out blizzard. It raged for 84 hours and when the storm finally moved eastward on the afternoon of April 8, 1938. Snow drifts reached 20 feet high. Winds at the height of the storm were clocked at 77 mph in Pampa, Texas and 8 deaths were blamed on the storm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 7, 1977 marked the first home game in the history of the Toronto Blue Jays. Actually, for a while, in February 1976 , it looked as if the National League’s San Francisco Giants would move to Toronto, where there were buyers eager for the club. When the Giants were sold in March 1976 to new owners determined to keep them in San Francisco, the American League jumped in to establish Toronto as an American League city, setting up an expansion club, and announced the Blue Jays, who began play the next year. Despite being one of the northernmost cities with a baseball team. The first games of the season for the franchise were actually not played at the home of some southern American League team as you might have expected in a search for warmer temperatures – but rather in Toronto. It was not a wise choice. With a sellout crowd on hand at Exhibition Stadium, more than 44,000 fans packed the old stadium, filling not only a new section built for baseball but also the football grandstand beyond the outfield fence. It was a snowy day and the lines on the field had to be brushed off constantly during the game – but nothing short of a blizzard was going to see the first Major League Baseball game in Toronto cancelled. Temperatures were in the 20s. The wintry weather did not deter the team ether, and the Blue Jays won their first ever major league game beating the Chicago White sox 9-5. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 6, 1936 , brought one of the worst weather-related disasters in Georgia history. A series of strong tornadoes struck the southern United States but none was deadlier than the one that struck Gainesville, Georgia on April 6 1936. It was part of a devastating outbreak of 17 tornadoes across the South. And it wasn’t the first for Gainesville - another tornado killed more than 100 people in January 1903. In 1936, not one, but two tornadoes tore through the heart of town, destroying much of the business district and the county courthouse, trapping hundreds in debris. The funnel fueled fires all over the area, including the Cooper Pants manufacturing company, where 60 employees were killed. The storm left more than 200 dead, 1,600 injured, 2,000 homeless and millions of dollars in damage in Gainesville and 454 people were killed by the tornado outbreak across the south in the second deadliest ever recorded in US history. President Franklin Roosevelt toured the city three days later, and returned in 1938 to rededicate the courthouse and city hall after a massive citywide rebuilding effort. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The summer of 1816 was not like any summer people could remember. The National Center for Atmospheric Research reported that, snow fell in New England and gloomy, cold rains fell throughout Europe. It was cold and stormy and dark. 1816 became known in Europe and North America as “The Year Without a Summer.” The year before on April 5, 1815, Mount Tambora, a volcano, started to rumble with activity. Over the following four months the volcano exploded - the largest volcanic explosion in recorded history. Many people close to the volcano lost their lives in the event. Tambora ejected so much ash and dust into the atmosphere that the sky darkened and the Sun was blocked from view. The large particles spewed by the volcano fell to the ground nearby, covering towns with enough ash to collapse homes. Smaller particles spewed by the volcano were light enough to spread through the atmosphere over the following months and had a worldwide effect on climate. They made their way high into the stratosphere, where they could distribute around the world more easily. Earth’s average global temperature dropped more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit. The Year Without a Summer had many impacts in Europe and North America. Crops were wiped out - either by frost or a lack of sunshine. This caused food to be scarce. The lack of successful crops that summer made the food which was grown more valuable, and the price of food climbed. Because the price of oats increased, it was more expensive for people to feed their horses. Horses were the main method of transportation, so with expensive oats, the cost of travel increased. The gloomy summer weather also inspired writers. During that summer-less summer, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, a horror novel set in an often stormy environment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the 1930s, lighter than air ships, or dirigibles where the rage for long distance flight. Trans-ocean flight by airplanes was virtually impossible, especially as a passenger service. Planes would have to hop and skip from one re-fueling station to another across the north Atlantic. Long distance non-stop flight was still a way off not coming into practical availability until well after world War II. So, the big balloons where the rage. Many of them would ultimately meet with disaster including the US Shenandoah and the famous explosion and crash of the German air ship, Hindenburg in Lakehurst New Jersey in 1937. The Shenandoah had crashed 12 years earlier than the Hindenburg in 1925 when it flew through a thunderstorm. But the big ships kept flying. The Akron made many flights across the US as a promotion for the US Navy. The Akron was on such a flight on the early morning of April 4, 1933 off the coast of New jersey. It soon encountered severe weather, which did not improve when the airship passed over Barnegat Light, New Jersey. The Akron broke up rapidly and sank in the stormy Atlantic. The crew of a nearby German merchant ship saw lights descending toward the ocean at about 12:23 a.m. and altered course to investigate. The Akron slowly sunk in the ocean, the accident left 73 dead, and only three survivors. The day of the lighter than air ships would continue for several more years only to meet with one disaster after another almost all fueled by encounters with violent weather. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The last few days of March 1974 and the first couple of days of April 1974 brought unseasonable warmth to much of the nation east of the Mississippi River. Across Ohio and northern Kentucky, the daffodils were blooming, and grass had turned a bright green, and, in some places, there was a hint of blue, that marks many types of grasses in Kentucky. Birds had already started to build their nests as the unseasonable warmth lasted for several days. But it was a false sign of spring and trouble was brewing in the vast frozen hinterlands of arctic Canada. Bitter cold from the departed winter still held sway up in the great north and when the jet stream, that had pulled up toward the Canadian border to transport the out of season warmth to the Ohio valley buckled, the cold was unleashed. Once the cold spilled over that region record low temperatures would wreak havoc with the blossoming buds and leave a skiff of snow on the ground. But before that happened, a violent cold front marking the leading edge of the bitter blast would rake across the region. It spanned killer twisters that went into the record books as the "Super Tornado Outbreak " - In 18 hours mostly on April 3, 1974, 148 tornadoes struck 13 states from Georgia to the Canadian border. 315 were killed and 6100 injured. Damage reached 1/2 billion dollars or 3 billion in 2022 dollars. Brandenburg, KY was completely destroyed with 28 killed and half of Xenia, OH was leveled with 33 dead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 early to mid-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 open 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. Louis and as much as 24” in nearby towns just to the west delaying the start of many wagon trains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April snowfalls in the northeastern section 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 April 1, 1997. 25.4” of snow fell at Boston’s Logan Airport, and broke the all-time 24-hour snowfall record of 23.6" set 1n February 1978. 100,000 people were left without power. This storm also made April 1997 the snowiest on record, easily surpassing the 13.3” that fell in April 1982. Winds gusted to 72 mph on Blue Mountain, Massachusetts, and to 54 mph in Boston. In a 2-day period from March 31 to April 1 Milford, Massachusetts picked up 36”, and Worcester, Mass was buried under 33”. Parts of the Catskills in New York State had up to 40”. In parts of Northwestern NJ, as much as 2’ of snow fell. 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 Herald in Cooperstown , NY reported, and I quote “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 it’s 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.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Illinois. 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 more typical Midwest cold and snowy winters. On March 30, 1843 2 feet was measured on the ground across much of Michigan, Illinois and Indiana. 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, ice jams on bodies of water 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 a river or stream. The ice chunks form an ice jam or ice dam, that 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 jammed 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 over the falls. 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, severe weather broke out dumping 4” diameter hail in Raleigh North Carolina and striking Florida with heavy thunderstorms that produced several inches of rain. 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. 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. 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It had been fairly snowy across Kansas and Missouri in the 1911-1912 winter season. By the later stages of March, Kansas City already had recorded more than 40” of snow including 15” earlier in March alone. Average snowfall for an entire season is about 15” so the city already had well above its normal snowfall. Milder weather had made several attempts to move into that part of the nation during March, but cold air held firm and so it was cold on March 23, 1912 as a storm spun up in the southern Rockies. That’s system moved eastward pulling moisture from the Gulf of Mexico ahead of it and skirted along the southern edge of the cold air mass that was in place across the Plains states. As the storm moved through Texas, Kansas City was deep in the cold air. 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 snowstorm on record. 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. 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 system that produced the flood in late March 1913 began with a typical winter storm pattern, but developed characteristics that promoted heavy rain and at times sleet and snow. As the storm gained strength on Sunday, March 23, high winds, hail, sleet, and tornadoes settled in across a vast swath of the nation’s mid-section. Major tornadoes hit Omaha, Nebraska where 94 died; also hit were Lone Peach, Arkansas; and Terre Haute, Indiana. On Monday and Tuesday, March 24 and 25, 3 to 8 inches of rain fell in Ohio, Indiana, and southern Illinois. Major rivers in Indiana and Ohio experienced heavy runoff. Downstream, where the Ohio River enters the Mississippi River, the water level broke record highs. By Tuesday, March 25, the Ohio River and its tributaries flooded cities such as Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Youngstown and Columbus. Dayton, Ohio, was particularly hard-hit. On 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 2022 dollars. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The winter of 1935-1936 was a severe one with lower than normal temperatures in the eastern half of the United States. As of early March, it was estimated that the snowpack in Northern New England contained an average of about 7.5 inches of water – the equivalent of almost 100” of snow. Deep snow also covered the ground across Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York state. Early in March 1936, a warm, moisture-laden storm moved into the area from the Ohio Valley to New England and stalled 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. A second moisture laden storm moved into the same region on March 18th and continued into the 20th. Again, the combination of heavy rain and melting snow resulted in more flooding. But this time almost the entire snow cover in New England melted, and with the ground already water-logged and the rivers full, severe 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. The flood in Pittsburgh was more than 6 feet, higher than ever recorded, almost 9 feet higher in Hartford, Conn. 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 2022 dollars. 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 indicated 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. 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 or 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 from one storm. 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 ever recorded there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 was pulled southward all the way into the Mid-Atlantic states, the rain changed to snow and more and more moisture was fed into the system from a strong jet stream that reached all the way down into the Gulf of Mexico. When the rain started in March 19th temperatures were well up into the 40s. By the night of the 19th temperatures had sagged down to near freezing. The snow picked up in intensity and continued for the next several days. Most of the time the ratio of water content to the amount of the mid-Atlantic states is 10 to 1. That is for every inch of water there is about 10” of snow. In this situation though, later in March, with temperatures at or above freezing that ratio was more than 4 to 1 or even 3 to I. That meant the snow was much heavier than usual the result would soon play itself out with collapsed roofs and buildings as they yielded to the sheer weight of the snow. When the snowfall was over more than foot of the white stuff 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” and flooding. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Early spring often brings the most violent weather to the nation’s midsection of the entire year. High in the atmosphere, up where the jet stream is, temperatures can still be almost as cold as they are in mid-winter, yet down on the ground temperatures can soar to at times close to summer-time levels. The extreme temperature contrast, that occurs at no other time of the year, combined with turning winds from the surface up into higher levels of the air leads to the formation of severe thunderstorms and multiple tornados. 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. A total of 695 deaths were reported with 2,027 injured there alone from that single tornado alone. There was $16.5 million worth of damage or almost a quarter of a billion in 2021 dollars. 11 other tornadoes the same day killed 50 more elsewhere, including 33 at a school in Desoto, IL. 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 rout as American militia from all of New England converged on the area and drove the British back into Boston. The British attempted to break out of Boston at the Battle of Bunker Hill some months later and even though they won because the Americans ran out of ammunition, the victory came at a terrible cost of dead and wounded, British General Clinton said that more British victories like that would actually put an end to British rule in America. So the British sat in Boston for almost a year. Meanwhile George Washington took control of the American Army and sent colonial artillery expert Henry Knox to Fort Ticonderoga in New York state to bring southward huge cannons from the fort. Working all night on March 4 and into March 5, 1776 American forces moved the guns onto Dorchester heights that overlooked Boston from the south. It gave the Colonials a commanding position that the British could not counter. But British General William Howe wanted to give it a go anyway, he 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. 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 1930s were not kind to the Great Plains, in the midst of economic disaster caused by the Great Depression, one of the most prolonged periods of severe weather struct the region in the form of severe drought, known as the Dust Bowl. Mass migration hit the area and many parts of the region lost population that would not be replenished for more than 25 years. With insufficient understanding of the ecology of the plains, farmers had conducted extensive deep plowing of the virgin topsoil of the Great Plains during the previous decade; this had displaced the native, deep-rooted grasses that normally trapped soil and moisture even during periods of drought and high winds. The rapid mechanization of farm equipment, especially small gasoline tractors, and widespread use of the combine harvester contributed to farmers' decisions to convert arid grassland, much of which received no more than 10 inches of precipitation per year, to cultivated cropland. 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 were 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. 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. The term has been applied to many snowstorms in American history, most notably the Blizzard of ’88. The term has also been used for snow events that did not meet the criteria – but where big snowstorms none the less. But the term wasn’t even invented until March 14 1870. The Editor of the Dakota Republican of 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." This storm referred to as a blizzard. A baseball team was named after it: The "Northern Blizzards", of Estherville Iowa. The manager said that "We confess to a certain liking for it, because it's at once startling, curious and positively suggestive of the furious and all victorious tempests which are experienced in this northwestern clime."  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Records show that early settlers to what would become the Mid-Atlantic and New England states report of huge snowstorms dating back to the 1600s. Native American tales tell of deep snow and powerful winds from well before that time in the region. But modern city life and dense population was not yet established. By the 1880s though the population of Northeast cites had skyrocketed. In Philadelphia the population went from 120,000 in 1850 to 850,000 in 1880. NYC from 700,000 in 1850 to almost 2 million in 1880. With all those people packed into now modern rising cities and dependent on public services to allow people to get around and supply lines for basics like food major snow storms had a profound impact. 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. Wind gusts were recorded at 85 miles per hour in New York City. Along with heavy snow, there was a complete whiteout in the city. Despite drifts that reached the second story of some buildings, many city residents trudged out to New York’s elevated trains to go to work, only to find many of them blocked by snow drifts and unable to move. Up to 15,000 people were stranded on the elevated trains. In addition to the elevated trains; telegraph lines, water mains and gas lines were also located above ground making them prone to freezing, which they did because record cold accompanied the storm, temperatures plunged into the teens as far south as North Carolina. 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The winter of 1989-1990 in the eastern 2/3rds of the nation had been brutal. November 1989 started mild in the western part of the nation, and a bit cooler in the East it was nothing out of the ordinary. The weather, however changed dramatically in late November. It turned very cold with frequent snowstorms in the central states and the east. In the Midwest temperatures averaged, in some places more than 15 degrees below normal, and it ranked as one of the 5 coldest Decembers on record, and the fierce winter was just getting started. At the end of December, just a day before Christmas one of the greatest coastal snowstorms every recorded struck South and North Carolina. By Christmas morning 1989 snow reached almost 4” in depth in Charleston, SC, 15” in Wilmington NC and more than a foot all the way out on Cape Hatteras, NC. Snow covered the ground as far south as Tampa and Daytona Beach. In January and February of 1990 temperatures began to moderate somewhat – but it remained cold and snowy in many places in the East. In mid-March winter broke and it did so by completely flipping the script. Warm air started to build across the Plains states and by March 10th the jet stream, that had dropped far south in the United States and brought cold air with it had 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 held 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tamarack, California sits up in the high Sierra 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. Because of its location in the High Sierra it is prone to getting hit by one strong pacific storm after another loaded with copious amounts of moisture that sometimes stream all the way from the central pacific. That moisture stream, often known as the Pineapple Express is a direct link all the way from the Hawaiian Islands and beyond. 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 471” – the greatest snow depth ever measured in one place in the United States, a record that still holds today. Tamarack also holds the record for greatest seasonal snowfall in California: during the winter of 1906−1907, it received 883”. It’s no wonder so many skiers make the trip there every winter. 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. The presence of the dust in Hurricane season can often act as a deterrent to the formation of tropical systems suppressing the formation of water droplets and clouds. Sometimes this dust makes it all the west into the Caribbean. It can cause travel disruptions diverting aircraft and interfering with radio waves. The most pronounced visible manifestation of the dust is in Europe, often lifted high into the atmosphere from storms approaching the northwest coast of Africa or Portugal. The dust settles into the lower atmosphere causing red sunrises and sunsets – but sometimes it’s washed out of the sky by rain and even more striking by snow. Such events, in the past, have resulted in superstitious approaches to the weather events. 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 what the source of the red appearance was. The origin of the red color was the dust raised from the dry lake beds of Chad. 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 ship 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. The Union ironclad Monitor arrived the night of March 8. This 172-foot “Yankee Cheese Box on a raft,” with its water-level decks and armored revolving gun turret, represented an entirely new concept of naval design. Thus the stage was set for the dramatic naval battle of March 9, with crowds of Union and Confederate supporters watching from the decks of nearby vessels and the shores on either side. They passed back and forth on opposite courses. Both crews lacked training; firing was ineffective. The Monitor could fire only once in seven or eight minutes but was faster and more maneuverable than her larger Confederate opponent. Both ships suffered some damage and retired. Because of the sheer weight of the ship and lack of maneuverability the previous days success of the Merrimack and the battle itself was only possible because of calm weather that allowed for smooth waters. In fact weather reports indicate the sky was clear and sunny with no wind. Even though the battle was inconclusive - it showed the superiority of the iron clad or metal covered ships and the engineering improved rapidly. Historians said that the battle made all navies that existed in the world at the time obsolete, and brought into existence modern naval warfare.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cold air had been holding across the Midwest during the first week of March in 2008. Storms had been frequent in that region during that time, but none of them particularly strong. That changed 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. Columbus, OH set a 24-hour maximum heavy snowfall record of 15.4“. The storm total reached more than 20 “. Memphis, TN received 1.4“ of snow, breaking the daily record. Jackson, TN also had an inch of snow, breaking their daily record. Trenton, NJ had a daily rainfall record 1.49“, with a record of 1.47“ in Philadelphia. Flooding occurred all along the Neshaminy Creek in the Philadelphia suburbs causing people to flee their homes. Damage occurred in parts of a VA from powerful thunderstorm generated winds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first week of February 2008 was a tough one for the western US as a powerful storm moved onshore. The storm’s height culminated on February 7. There were several areas of very heavy rain with some places having nearly 10“ while winds gusted to more than 100 mph. Loma Prieta, CA had nearly 10“ of rain and Marysville, Ca had just over 9“. Winds gusted to 163 mph near Tahoe City, CA with a 149 mph wind gust at Mammoth Mountain. Snow was also impressive with a whopping 132“ in Kirksville, CA and 62“ in Wolf Creek Pass Colorado. At height of the storm it was estimated that nearly 2 million people were without power through California, Nevada and Utah. Roads were blocked by snow, flooding was a problem not only from the rainfall but because of pounding waves and storm surge along the northern California coast. The heavy snow, rain and powerful winds caused huge airline delays that rippled across the entire US. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tropical systems that reach Hurricane strength in a region near Australia are known as Cyclones. Cyclones that impact the northern and east coast of Australia are fairly common, but the strongest systems usually steer north of the Island Continent. But on March 5, 1899 one of the most powerful Tropical Cyclones ever to strike the region 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. A pearling fleet, based at Thursday Island, Queensland was anchored in the bay before the storm. Within an hour, the storm drove much of the fleet ashore or onto the Great Barrier Reef. An eyewitness reported that a 48-foot storm surge swept over their camp at Barrow Point atop a 40-foot high ridge and reached 3 miles inland, the largest storm surge ever recorded. The exact number of those that died is unknown – but was probably close to 500. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.