This Date in Weather History

Ice along the Texas Gulf coast is not unknown, but it is a rarity to accumulate more than a thin ice coating, mainly on bridges and overpasses. Usually when that icing does occur it happening in the early morning hours and the common practice is simply to let it melt as the sun rises and heats up the roadways enough to raise the temperature above freezing to melt that ice and end the slippery conditions. On January 13, 1997 an ice storm glazed the Houston, TX area as well as parts of Louisiana. This time, temperatures were not just a degree of two below freezing but rather in the mid 20’s, so 1/2” thick ice formed from Beaumont, TX to Lake Charles, LA. The normal method of simply letting the ice melt would not work unless those in the region waited for several days. With little salt on hand, like the stockpiles in the northern states, the local highway departments needed to improvise using road graders and front loaders to dump gravel used in road construction and cinders from local incinerators to cover the highways to allow motorists to gain traction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Afghanistan is no stranger to winter cold and snow. Much of the country is mountainous and the higher terrain is conducive to bitter cold winter temperatures and snow. Major snow storms are not common – but not terribly unusual either. On January 11, 2008, a massive winter storm blasted the country with a wind-wiped heavy snowfall. Dozens were killed by the heavy snow and freezing weather as snow blocked roads connecting remote areas to many of the cities and towns in the country. Around 35 employees of a construction company were trapped in an avalanche in Herat. The clean-up and resources from that avalanche and several others was problematic at best. The war-ravaged nation was still in the midst of bitter conflict and the ability to clean up the snowfall and protect against the cold was virtually impossible as those normal resources were consumed by the ongoing conflict – just another terrible by-product of war. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first week of January 1918 brought a persistent bitter cold the upper Midwest and the great lakes region. In many places high temperatures barely reached the freezing mark. Already storages brought on by World War I were being felt in the region with scarcity of fuel to heat homes. Then an even colder air mass that had been building across the arctic regions of Canada plunged southward into the northern tier of the United States. Meanwhile a storm was brewing in the southern states, as that system swept northward it brought plenty of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico along with it. The result was a vast storm of blizzard proportions that moved through Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. Toledo had 63 mph winds and a temperature drop from +28 degrees to -15 degrees as the storm pulled the arctic air southward behind it. The result was a complete immobilization and no mail for 2 weeks in many parts of the Midwest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Snow, continuous and heavy with sustained winds estimated at 30-35 mph, gusting to 60 mph struck Edinboro, PA on January 10, 1982, as bitter cold air moved out of Canada and across the Great Lakes resulting in a massive diplay of Lake-effect snowfall. Mountainous drifts caused roads to be shut down. Between 3 and 4 feet of new snow, well above the waist on the level was reported. There was at least one report of a devastating “snow devil”. Miniature vortexes of wind can stir up snow in a formation known as a snow devil. Similar to a dirt devil, snow devils are spinning columns of snow. The reported stated that “It became dark at 4 pm, and a sudden strong gust of wind picked up a wall of snow and blew it about. It cleared somewhat, but then a definite funnel shaped vortex, swirling about at a rapid rate, knocked over an apple tree. The snow devil then proceeded to rip a 6-inch diameter cherry tree right out of the ground with the roots lying on top of the snow. The snow devil was about 20-25 feet in diameter and at least 100 feet tall. This was one of the most severe blizzards in this region in memory.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

January 9, 1975 marked one of the coldest days across the parries of western Canada. Arctic cold had move out of Siberia and across Alaska and the Yukon and then southward. Along the southern fringes of the cold weather a storm laden with moisture from the Pacific Ocean had slammed into the pacific northwest of the United States and was moving eastward across Idaho and Montana. As the bitter cold air surged into the places like Winnipeg, Manitoba snow broke out. Fueled by the cold and that Pacific storm blizzard conditions quickly developed. As the snow piled up the airport in Winnipeg was forced to close and remained out of service for almost 2 days. Travel across the entire region ground to a halt as the blizzard reduced the visibility in Winnipeg to zero. People couldn’t even see a foot or two in front of them. The white-out continued for more than 12 hours. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bitter cold air moved westward out of Siberia in the first week of January 1981 and settled in across much of the European continent. Temperatures remained below freezing night and day in Germany and France and across the British isles and southward to the Mediterranean coast. Northern Italy and Greece were not spared the arctic chill. On the southern end of the Siberian airmass a large storm formed in north Africa and moved westward. By the time the powerful storm reached the southern part of Greece it resulted in 4 days of wild weather from January 8-11. Snow fell in parts of Greece as well as Tunisia where 2" accumulated. This was the first snow in Tunisia in 26 years. There were floods in Turkey and dust storms in Libya. Travel in those areas that experienced snow on the Mediterranean coast experienced travel disruptions for days. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The “Blizzard of ‘96'” wreaked havoc across the eastern third of the United States. A powerful storm moved up the eastern seaboard and ran into very frigid air helping to produce traffic-stopping, life-disrupting snowfall totals. The major cities of Boston, MA, New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA & Washington DC became completely paralyzed. Philadelphia received a record 31" of snow, smashing the old record snowfall of 21.3" set in Feb. 1983. In parts of southern PA, snowdrifts were as high as 10'. As much as 4' of snow fell in the West Virginia Mountains. Nearly 2' of snow buried New York City. 29" was measured in Boston, MA. Winds gusted over 80 mph on the New Jersey shore. A total ban on travel was in put in effect in the eastern half of PA for 48 hours to aid in the clean-up and recuse stranded motorists. 35" fell in White Horse, NJ to set a state snowfall record Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tropical Storm Zeta, the 26th and last storm of the 2005-2006 hurricane season, died off in the central Atlantic on January 6, 2006. This was the second storm to span two calendar years, the first being Hurricane Alice in 1954-1955. In current times the start of the Hurricane season triggers the re-start of the alphabet. The season officially kicks off on June 1st in the Atlantic basin. Sometimes tropical systems form in May or even April. In fact, there has been a named storm in every month of the year when compiling all the storms that have formed through history. Usually then when there is a natural break in the season and there has been no storm for a while the alphabet is restarted. Most of these modern protocols here established by the WMO, the World Meteorological Organization in the 1950s and 60’s with some refinements after that. That is why in the 2005-2006 season was still using the end of the alphabet with Zeta, but 1954-1955 before the rules where worked out the alphabet was already re-started with Alice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated up by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises up through the colder air above; the vapor then freezes and is deposited on the downwind shores. But Lake-effect snow can actually occur when a lake is partially or even total frozen. That is because directional wind shear is one of the most important factors governing the development of snow squalls; environments with weak directional shear typically produce more intense squalls than those with higher shear levels. Frictional convergence is the major factor in producing the squalls. When the wind blows over an expanse of water – or even frozen lake – the air is flowing unimpeded, when it reaches the shoreline it slows as it comes into contact with the land and causes friction. There is only once place for the air to go and that is up. The lifting causes clouds and precipitation. When the wind blows in such a way that is turns counter-clockwise, the same direction as large-scale storms – that also aids in lift. When the lake is frozen the added element of temperature contrast and available moisture is added to the mix. This is most common around the Great Lakes in the United States and Canada. The snowfall totals can be prodigious, in a short period of time. On January 5, 1988 Heavy lake effect snows on the east side of Lake Ontario in upstate New York. So much snow fell that Interstate 81 was closed from Pulaski to Watertown for a week. As much as 45” of snow fell in less than 12 hours. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The absolute worst winter in the 18th century was the “hard winter” of 1779-1780. The winter that year was bad. Durning the course of the winter, New Jersey had 26 snowstorms and 6 of those are considered to be blizzards! Every saltwater inlet from North Carolina to Canada froze over completely. In fact, New York Harbor froze over with ice so thick that British soldiers were able to march from Manhattan to Staten Island. George Washington decided to place his army at Morristown, New Jersey for winter quarters. When they arrived at the encampment site in November 1779 there was already a foot of snow on the ground. The worst of the snowfalls dropped more than four feet of snow with snow drifts over six feet on January 4, 1780. The temperature only made it above freezing a couple times in the whole winter. Officers remembered ink freezing in their quill pens and one surgeon recorded that “we experienced one of the most tremendous snowstorms ever remembered; no man could endure its violence many minutes without danger to his life. … When the storm subsided, the snow was from four to six feet deep, obscuring the very traces of the roads by covering fences that lined them.” Because of the severity of the winter, provisioning almost 10,000 soldiers were nearly impossible. A soldier in the Connecticut Line, Joseph Plumb Martin remembered “We were absolutely literally starved; – I do solemnly declare that I did not put a single morsel of vitials into my mouth for four days and as many nights, except for a little black birch bark which I gnawed off a stick of wood, if that can be called food. I saw several of the men roast their old shoes and eat them, and I was afterward informed by one of the officer’s waiters, that some of the officers killed and ate a favorite little dog that belonged to one of them.” Even General Washington noted after the winter that “The oldest people now living in this Country do not remember so hard a winter as the one we are now emerging from. In a word the severity of the frost exceeded anything of the kind that had ever been experienced in this climate before.” The Continental army remained in camp until the end of May 1780 recuperating from the harsh winter. It would still be more than a year until the decisive battle of the war in Yorktown, Virginia and Washington’s army would still struggle to overcome battle and nature – but none as harsh as that winter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The North American ice storm of January 1961 was a massive ice storm that struck areas of northern Idaho in the United States at the start of January 1961. The storm set a record for thickest recorded ice accumulation from a single storm ever in the United States, at 8 inches. The storm covered areas from Grangeville, in north central Idaho, to the US-Canadian border. A combination of dense fog, sub-freezing temperatures, and occasional freezing rain led to the heavy ice accumulations. Catastrophic damage to trees and utilities resulted, resulting in widespread power outages. Prior to this storm, previous records of between 4 and 6 inches of ice were recorded in New York and Texas. Imagine if you will ice that is 8” thick. That is thicker than several ice cubes stacked end to end. Imagine it covering everything, consider its sheer weight. It caused almost all the tress in the region to break apart. All wires fell, roofs and other structures caved in. Consider how long it would take all that ice to melt – it was weeks and many were without power for even longer. It caused the power industry to devise new ways of not only restoring power, but new ways to distribute power including more sub stations to generate power and the burying of wires and utility lines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During Colonial times, Philadelphia was one of the major ports in North America. Lying at the confluence of the mighty Delaware river and the smaller Schuylkill river it carried a significant amount of commerce back and forth from Europe to the New World. The Delaware River was deep enough for most of the huge sailing ships of the day to connect right up the docks and easily load or off-load their cargo. Navigation was usually clear from the Atlantic ocean to the great port. Unlike present day, the presence of some ice on the river could lead to a slowing of the ability of ships to navigate any ice fields on the river. Unlike today if bitter cold struck there was no way to break the ice and the wooden ships hulls were vulnerable to damage and even ships sinking from significant ice. When the river froze over solid commerce stopped. January 2 was a day of great activity in the Port of Philadelphia in these times gone by after Christmas and New year’s Day, but it came to pass that on January 2, 1740 the Delaware became completely frozen over and shipping came to a halt for the winter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New Years Day 1864 brought an intense day of suffering from the Mid-West into the Tennessee Valley, especially for Union and Confederate soldiers who were camped in tents and other structures not made for permanent living and therefore ill prepared against the cold. Times where especially tough on confederate prisoners of war, who were not used to the extreme cold. The New Year’s Day cold in Midwest was the worst in decades as a snowstorm and gale force winds struck; Minneapolis had a high of the -25 degrees; Chicago’s high was -16 degrees, with a morning low -25 degrees. The south was not spared the bitter cold, temperatures dropped from 47 degrees to -19 degrees in 21 hours at Louisville, KY. Newspaper reports from the day reported Intense suffering for Civil War soldiers and prisoners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Dallas, Texas and across north Texas in the month of December the daily high temperatures decrease by 6°F, from 62°F to 56°F, rarely falling below 40°F or exceeding 74°F. Daily low temperatures decrease by 6°F as well, from 44°F to 39°F, rarely falling below 26°F or exceeding 58°F. It does get cold on occasion though, with record low temperatures at the end of the month in the single digits and even a little below zero on some days. Snowfall can reach a couple inches. Cold air is easily pushed down the plains from Canada in the winter season. Often times this cold air only manages to penetrate the lowest several thousand feet – so it is close to the ground. When this happens and storms push moisture in from the Gulf of Mexico it falls as rain – yet with temperatures near the ground below freezing the rain freezes on all surfaces and causes ice. On December 31, 1978 a severe ice storm struck leaving 1” to 2" of ice over a 100-mile swath from Gainesville to Paris, Texas. Electricity was off for 10 days in parts of Dallas County. More than 2,000 people were treated for frostbite, automobile accidents or falling accidents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The winter of 1880–1881 is widely considered the most severe winter ever known in some parts of the United States. Many children—and their parents—learned of "The Snow Winter" through the children's book The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, in which the author tells of her family's efforts to survive. The snow arrived in October 1880 and blizzard followed blizzard throughout the winter and into March 1881, leaving many areas snowbound throughout the entire winter. Accurate details in Wilder's novel include the blizzards' frequency and the deep cold, many railroads stopped trains until the spring thaw because the snow made the tracks impassable, the near-starvation townspeople throughout the mid-west. An October blizzard brought snowfalls so deep that two-story homes had snow up to the second-floor windows in Minnesota and Wisconsin. No one was prepared for the deep snow so early in the season and farmers all over the region were caught before their crops had even been harvested, their grain milled, or with their fuel supplies for the winter in place. By January the train service was almost entirely suspended from the region. Railroads hired scores of men to dig out the tracks but it was a wasted effort: As soon as they had finished shoveling a stretch of line, a new storm arrived, filling up the line and leaving their work useless. There were no winter thaws and on February 2, 1881, a massive blizzard struck that lasted for nine days across the upper Midwest and parts of the Plains states. In the towns the streets were filled with solid drifts to the tops of the buildings and tunneling was needed to secure passage about town. Homes and barns were completely covered, compelling farmers to tunnel to reach and feed their stock. For the most part the snow by passed the big cities on the East coast that winter. The cold was only sporadic but on December 30, 1880, bitter cold hit the east coast, the mercury dropped to 3 below in Washington D. C. the earliest below zero reading there ever, records were also set in Charlotte North Carolina at 5 below and in Philadelphia the temperature also dropped to negative 5 and the afternoon high temperature despite bright sunshine only reach 5 above zero. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The heaviest observed and accurately measured snowfall in more than a hundred years, across the plains plans states, hit on December 29, 1830. Many of the cities in the region had just experienced a growth spurt as a jumping off pint for westward travel. Farming was taking hold in the nations’ mid-section. Many immigrants from Europe had moved into the region and brought their farming techniques and strains of wheat that would lead to American becoming the nation’s breadbasket. The push was on to seize the land of Indigenous people and also send settlers on treks to the west coast that was not part of the United States, in places like California and Oregon. All that was stalled for a while as the massive snowstorm struck. Very heavy snow struck 36” was recorded in Kansas City and 30” in Peoria 30". it began the ”Winter of the Deep Snow" with more than 30" on ground in parts of Missouri and Illinois until mid-February. People began to re-think the move west as being too harsh. But the continue influx of refugees from the across the Atlantic continued to push people in search of more land and soon “the Winter of Deep Snow” was forgotten and the movement continued within a few years the great wagon train treks began with the opening of the Oregon Trail. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Snowfall in Israel is a common sight during the months of January and February, especially on Mount Hermon. In fact, Mount Hermon Ski Resort is Israel's only winter ski and snowboard resort located in the Golan Heights in the far north of the country. Apart from the mountain range, the Golan Heights, Upper Galilee region, Safed and Jerusalem receive snowfall every year. At just under 2,700 feet above sea level, snow is not uncommon in the winter in Jerusalem. On average, at least a few flakes fall 7-8 days each year. So, snowfalls are not uncommon and some have buried the city if Jerusalem in almost a foot of snow. Because of its high elevation it certainly is colder than cities like Tel Aviv on the coast of the Mediterranean. From December through January high temperatures in the city average about 53 degrees and low temperatures 44. But on December 28, 1879 the city was hit with one of it’ largest snowstorms ever when 17” accumulated. It shut down the region for travel for more than a week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bitter cold weather moved into the Carolinas on Christmas day of 1992 and held for several days aided by a persistent north wind. During the evening hours of December 26 those winds close to the ground turned to the northeast as a storm formed in southern Georgia. Meanwhile higher in the atmosphere the wind turned to the south and increased, bringing warm air into the region several thousand feet above the ground level. Still the winds the at surface remained northeast and kept cold air holding with temperatures in the 20s in the lowest several thousand feet. Colder air is more dense and heavier than warm air and has to retreat and is not pushed out of the way by light warmer air which is forced to rise up and over the cold air. This situation played out across the Carolinas on December 27, 1992, As the storm rolled northward rain broke out across the region – but because temperatures were below freezing at the ground the rain froze on everything. Soon ice covered all surfaces and caused tree limbs and wires to come down and turning highways into skating rinks. Hundreds of thousands lost power and, in some places, it took more than a week to restore electricity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A major winter storm barreled up the East Coast on December 26, 2010. The mid- Atlantic and New England coastlines bore the brunt of the storm’s fury. Snowfall totals eclipsed a foot in some cities and towns from eastern Virginia to Massachusetts, with accumulations tipping 18” in New Jersey. Winds also howled past 60 mph in parts of New England, creating whiteout conditions in spots. More than 45,000 customers had lost power across the region. Flight delays and cancellations plagued holiday travelers at many of the East Coast’s busy air hubs. All New York City airports were forced to close. The impending storm also prompted the NFL to postpone the Sunday night matchup between the Eagles and Vikings in Philadelphia before the storm even arrived. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The fall and early winter of 1775 had not gone well for the patriots during the American Revolution. One defeat was met by another. Starting with the battle of Long Island, the British chased George Washington and his shrinking army out of Brooklyn, out of New York city and finally out of New Jersey. With the end of 1775 coming fast, many in the army would not be signing back up and the revolution was on the verge of collapse. The British were so sure of victory, most of the generals and other high-ranking officers retired to the comforts of New York City for the winter, leaving garrisons of troops in many New Jersey towns under the command of either junior officers or German Hessian mercenaries. Washington was camped on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River a distance north of Philadelphia. He was desperate, as was his army. Washington was a keen observer of the weather, like many of the nation’s founders. His army had miraculously escaped the British after the battle of Long Island as a bank of early morning fog formed and hid his retreat. He understood river fog in the fall season quite well, having lived on his Mt Vernon farm along the banks of the Potomac River. He also understood that strong northwest winds in December usually brought on a change to much colder weather and surmised that the enemy across the river would be hunkered down the next morning, inside to escape the cold and it would be the day after Christmas as well and the soldiers would be sleeping in after celebrating. At 11 p.m. on Christmas night, Washington’s army started its crossing of the half-frozen Delaware river at three locations. The 2,400 soldiers led by Washington successfully braved the icy and freezing river and reached the New Jersey side of the Delaware just before dawn. The other two divisions, made up of some 3,000 men and crucial artillery, failed to reach the meeting point and turned back. Washington was on his own. At 8 a.m. on the morning of December 26, Washington’s remaining force, separated into two columns, reached the outskirts of Trenton, New Jersey and descended on the unsuspecting Hessians. Trenton’s 1,400 Hessian defenders were groggy from the previous evening’s festivities, just as Washington has surmised, they were ensconced in their buildings and underestimated the Patriot threat after months of decisive British victories throughout New York. Washington’s men quickly overwhelmed the Germans’ defenses, and by 9:30 a.m. the town was surrounded. Although several hundred Hessians escaped, nearly 1,000 were captured at the cost of only four American lives. Washington’s victory was based as much on pluck and courage as his understanding of celebrations and even more so the weather. The bitter cold that Washington and his troops braved was the turning point. Hessian sentries were not out braving the cold, also as Washington imagined. The surprise victory was complete and total. Washington’s army was boosted by the victory and one several days later at Princeton. The Patriot army did not collapse – re-enlistments and new enlistments soared with the victories. The British were shocked and the Hessians, so ruthlessly triumphant in the summer, gained respect for the Americans. In fact, many would dessert and make the new nation their home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A coastal storm developed in Gulf States and moved up East Coast on December 24, 1966. A widespread white Christmas resulted for many. Thunder and vivid lightning were reported along with heavy rain and snow from Baltimore north to Rhode Island. JFK Airport closed for 24 hours because of drifting snow. Nantucket Sound saw seas up to 40' - boat trips were cancelled and people were unable to get to Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket for the Christmas Holiday. Philadelphia had more than a foot of snow. Baltimore more than 8 and Atlantic City more than 6", Washington DC had 6.5" the most ever on Christmas Eve. Highpoint State Park, NYC 19", Central Park, NY 7.1", Pittsfield, MA 17" – an all time snow record, 24 hours. In Boston, MA, 67 mph winds blew down Christmas decorations. Storm was of great benefit to holiday skiers; up to 20" of snow fell in the VT and NH mountains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Regiments of Patriot soldiers in the fall and early winter of 1775, under Col. Richard Richardson, set out to attack a Loyalist unit that had camped in present-day Greenville County, South Carolina for safety. The Patriots marched through several feet of snow in December to accomplish this. The Loyalists, abiding by the terms of a treaty, had disbanded most of their forces. Col. Richardson refused to abide by the treaty and rounded up their leaders and sent them to Charlestown under arrest. On December 22nd, Col. Richardson detached 1,300 troops to attack the Loyalist camp of Capt. Patrick Cunningham that had stopped to rest on Cherokee lands. Capt. Cunningham warned his men to fend for themselves and they all ran into the woods. He was able to escape on horseback. After Capt. Cunningham had been defeated, Col. Richardson considered the upcountry to be pacified and turned his army homeward. He couldn't stay because winter was coming and his army had no tents, their shoes were worn out, and they were badly clothed. Along the way home, it snowed for thirty hours ending on December 23, 1775, dumping nearly two feet on the weary Patriots, thus ending what became known as The Snow Campaign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In mid-December 1989, a severe arctic outbreak of bitter cold plunged out of the Yukon, across the plains of Canada and right into the middle of the United States midsection. The morning of December 22, 1989, brought record cold across a wide area. Notable low temperature records reached down to 23 below in Indianapolis, breaking the old record by 6 degrees, Cincinnati’s temperature dropped to minus 20, breaking the record by 7, it was 12 below in Pittsburgh and 1 below in Tupelo, Mississippi. Kanas City reached down to 23 below the coldest ever there. On the southern fringes of the cold, a storm churned through the Gulf of Mexico bringing snow to the Gulf coast with 2” in Houston and Galveston Texas and an inch in New Orleans. At the same time, as the cold departed the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains warming Chinook winds took over and in Cut Bank, Montana after a morning low temperature of 34 below zero the afternoon temperature topped out at plus 40. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thousands of travelers were stranded at airports and shelters on December 21, 2006 after a blizzard paralyzed Colorado and parts of other Western states. Snowfall measured over 50 inches in the Rocky Mountain foothills, and drifts reached more than five feet on airport runways. Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado declared a state of emergency, calling in National Guard troops to help stranded motorists reach home, a hotel or Red Cross shelters. At Denver International Airport, nearly 5,000 people were stuck overnight, the airport remained closed for 3 days. 30- to 40-mile-per-hour winds with falling snow, prevented cleanup. The snow was accumulating too fast to keep up with it. Cities along Colorado’s Front Range could not plow roads fast enough as the snow kept falling for over 24 hours, leaving 20 to 30 inches in Denver. Light-rail trains and bus service were canceled for days, and it was a week before side streets in Denver were plowed. Mail delivery was canceled and most businesses, including malls, were closed during the busiest shopping time of the year. With cars, trucks and buses abandoned on the roads, the cleanup was hindered. At Denver International Airport, thousands of passengers were bused to hotels and many others slept on the floor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On December 20, 1836, what Illinois pioneers called “The Sudden Freeze” occurred. About eight inches of snow fell on Dec. 19, but it got warm enough for the snow to turn to rain the next day, which melted the snow on the ground into slush and water. At 2 p.m. Dec. 20, the sky darkened, and a heavy, black cloud rolled in from the northwest. Early settlers recorded that then a strong, icy-cold wind, estimated to be blowing at 70 mph, swept over the landscape, instantly freezing everything in its path. Jacksonville, Illinois resident John Lathrop described the sudden freeze. “The cold wave struck me, and as I drew my feet up the ice would form on my boots. When I reached the square, the ice bore me up, and when I returned to Mr. Turner’s, a half hour afterwards, I saw his chickens and ducks frozen into the ice.” Some farmers who had walked from their homes to their barns in slush and water made the return trip on ice a few minutes later. Travelers caught out on horseback were frozen to their saddles, and had to be lifted off and carried to a fire to be thawed apart. “Two young men who were traveling for Philadelphia merchants were frozen to death not far from Rushville,” Lathrop recalled. “One of them was found with his back against a tree with his horse’s bridle over his arm and his horse frozen in front of him. The other young man was partly in a kneeling position, with a tinder box in one hand and a flint in the other — with both eyes open, as though attempting to light the tinder in the box — that being the usual mode of lighting a fire before the days of friction matches.” Reports also came from several places of travelers resorting to killing their horses, and, after disemboweling them, crawling into the carcass to escape the bitter cold. No record was left of how far the mercury dropped, but various reports said 6 to 12 inches of ice formed in frozen streams in just a few hours. For decades, survivors reckoned dates of birth, marriages, deaths and other important events from the Deep Snow, or the Sudden Freeze. Survivors prided themselves on having borne nature’s fury, considering themselves true settlers — the ‘Old Settlers’ —and regarding later arrivals as untested upstarts.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At least one person thought the 1948 NFL championship game between the host Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Cardinals was going to be snowed out. Eagles running back Steve Van Buren looked out his window that morning at a raging blizzard and went back to bed. His coach had to call to tell him the game was on, so he caught three trolleys and walked several blocks in the storm to make the game, which started with 4 inches of accumulation that only got worse. It remains the second-lowest scoring postseason game in NFL history, with the Eagles winning 7-0 on a Van Buren TD run, as neither team could do much in the storm. The grounds crew needed the teams' players to help remove the tarp, and extra officials were used to assist with out-of-bounds calls. It was a big moment in NFL history as it marked the first time that the Championship Game was televised with Harry Wismer and Red Grange calling the action on ABC. However, the start of the game was put in jeopardy due to the heavy snow. There was even talk of postponing the game, but instead, the game started two hours late to allow more fans to attend the game. With four inches already on the ground, the Eagles offered any fan with a shovel a free ticket for helping to ready the field. Once the game began, it was obvious just how difficult it would be to play the game. Slick conditions, poor visibility which at times was less than a foot and accumulating snow made it hard for both teams to move the ball. The passing game was essentially eliminated by the whiteout conditions and blowing snow as the Cardinals and Eagles combined for just 19 yards through the air on five completions. Each team turned the ball over three times, as the game was scoreless through three quarters. One player who was able to put up big numbers as Steve Van Buren who had 98 yards on 26 carries. Late in the third quarter, Ray Mallouf attempting a handoff fumbled the ball setting up the Eagles on the Chicago 17. The Eagles were on the verge of scoring as the fourth quarter began, finally breaking the tie with a five-yard run by Van Buren. It would be the game’s only score as the Eagles won the game 7-0 to claim the NFL Championship. The Eagles would win a second straight championship in 1949, while the Cardinals would not win another playoff game until 1998 after moving through St. Louis and onto Arizona. The 7-0 score would be the lowest scoring NFL playoff game until 1970 when the Dallas Cowboys beat the Detroit Lions 5-0. Van Buren later said, "I was sure the game would be postponed." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Forays’ of cold air had been frequent across the Plains states in the fall of 2013; snow had accumulated in places across Montana and the Dakotas. But the middle of December brought somewhat milder weather as winds across the region shifted from the north to the southwest and south and air came surging up out of Mexico. The change in the wind brought and marked change in the weather and on December 18, 2013 Record warmth spread across the Plains. Boulder, MT. tied the record of 54 set in 1979. Denver, CO. reached 68, breaking the record of 66. Imperial, NE broke their record of 65 from 1979 by reaching 69. All across the region people welcomed the break in the early season cold that had held sway earlier in the month – it was not to last – just a couple of days later temperatures in parts of the region dipped into the teens and single digits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The archives of the National Weather Service report that Wilbur and Orville Wright made four brief flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina with their first powered aircraft on December 17, 1903. After having success with their 5-foot biplane kite, the brothers realized the weather conditions in Dayton, OH, where their bicycle workshop was located and where they worked on heavier than air aircraft were not ideal for their flying experiments. They wrote the National Weather Bureau in Washington, D.C. requesting a list of suitable places on the east coast of the United States where winds were constant. The Wright Brothers received the following response from Joseph Dosher, who staffed the Weather Bureau office, and wrote in August of 1900 regarding the suitability of Kitty Hawk. "To Mr. Wilbur Wright, Dayton Ohio Dear Sir, In reply to yours of the 3rd, I will say the beach here is about one mile wide clear of trees or high hills, and islands for nearly sixty miles south. Conditions: the wind blows mostly from the North and Northeast September and October which is nearly straight down this piece of land. Giving you many miles of a steady wind with a free sweep. I am sorry to say that you could not rent a house here. So, you will have to bring tents. You could obtain frame. The only way to reach Kitty Hawk is from Roanoke Island N.C. in a small sail boat. From your letter I believe you would find it here like you wish. Will be pleased at any time to give you any information. Yours very respectfully.” For those of you, like me, who have been to Kitty Hawk this description from 120 years ago of the landscape and weather conditions hold true to this day. On December 17, with the winds were averaging more than 20 mph, Orville took a flight for a total distance of 120 feet. I was the first heavier than air flight that carried a human being. The flight lasted all of the 12 seconds – but Orville Wright flew into history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wednesday, December 16, 1835 was a bitterly cold day, known as ”cold Wednesday”. Hanover, NH only reached a high temperature of -17 degrees. It was -12 degrees at Boston by sunset. But it was in New York City that the cold did it’s most damage. It was so cold that the East River was frozen: Fire fighter couldn’t access the water, The Great NYC Fire of 1835 leveled 17 blocks that night, including most of Wall Street. The fire began on the evening of December 16, 1835, in a five-story warehouse at 25 Merchant Street, now known as Beaver Street at the intersection of Hanover Square and Wall Street. As it spread, gale-forces winds blowing from the northwest toward the East River spread the fire. The conflagration was visible from Philadelphia, approximately 80 miles away. At the time of the fire, major water sources including the East River and the Hudson Rover were frozen in temperatures as low as −17 °F . Firefighters were forced to drill holes through ice to access water, which later re-froze around the hoses and pipes. Attempts were made to deprive the fire of fuel by demolishing surrounding buildings, but at first there was insufficient gunpowder in Manhattan. Finally a detachment of U. S. Marines and sailors arrived at 3 o'clock in the morning, with gunpowder from the Brooklyn Navy Yard and began to blow up buildings in the fire's path. An investigation found that a burst gas pipe, ignited by a coal stove, was the initial source; no blame was assigned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mild weather had persisted in western New York and indeed all across the Great Lakes region well into December in 1945. With the end of World War II, it seemed like the nice autumn weather was allowing people to enjoy peace of mind and carefree mild days for the first time in years. Great Lake water temperatures were also on the warm side when compared against long-term seasonal averages. Then on December 15 time ran out. A bitter blast of artic air – the first of the season arrived and blasted that cold air across the warm lakes setting an intense lake effect snow event. The city of Buffalo, New York got pounded with more than 36” of snow and areas south of the city in what are known as the snowbelts had twice as much snow – some places upwards of 70” of the white stuff. The region had some removal equipment – but heavy snow removal equipment was still sparse as many of the trucks and earthmoving type equipment was in use in the war effort and still had not been returned to many cities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The autumn of 1779 had been relatively mild across the 13 colonies as they struggled against the British for independence, but on December 14, 1779 and cold wave hit as artic air spilled out of Canada and into the Colonies. It was a portend of what was to come. The winter of 1779–1780 has been called among the harshest in the eighteenth century. The so-called Hard Winter. A total of twenty-eight snowstorms hit the soon to be United States, some dropping snow for several days in succession. The temperature rarely rose above freezing as the Delaware and Hudson Rivers froze over. Sledges moved regularly across ten miles of ice between Annapolis and the opposite shore of the Chesapeake. Wild animals were almost exterminated as people where desperately hunting for food and other animals died of the cold and exposure. General Alexander (Lord Stirling) marched over a saltwater channel to make his unsuccessful Staten Island raid—even his artillery passed over the six miles of open water safely. Washington's main army suffered much more, because of this weather, in their Morristown winter quarters, than they had at Valley Forge two years earlier, with snow lying six feet deep. The British in New York suffered almost as much as the economy in North America ground to a halt and food became scarce everywhere. As inflation took off, Washington found it ever more difficult to obtain much needed supplies for his shrinking Continental army. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

California's citrus heritage has deep roots in what is now downtown Los Angeles. In the 1840s, it was the site of the state's first commercial citrus farm. "When the Gold Rush of 1849 hit, there was a huge demand for oranges in the gold country because it was well established that fresh citrus was useful in combating scurvy," a vitamin-C deficiency, said Vince Moses, a historian on California citrus and former director of the Riverside Metropolitan Museum. But long before citrus became a viable commercial crop, Spanish missionaries who settled in Southern California during the 1700s were already cultivating a variety of citrus fruit. Cold temperatures are not good for the sensitive fruit trees and devastating freezes had previously ravaged the Florida citrus industry. Causing groves to the planted and re-planted farther and farther south in Florida. Those in southern California thought they were immune to the cold, but on December 13, 1878 a bitter cold wave was able to push over the mountains from the east and the temperature dropped to 30 degrees in LA, in outlying areas it was even colder, in the 20s and did some damage to the trees. Still not quite as devastatingly cold as often had occurred in Florida where temperatures in the northern groves had dropped into the teens and lower destroying all the trees numerous times in the 1800’s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the winter huge storms form in the Gulf of Alaska south of the 49th state and are pushed southward by the jet-stream and often slam into the region from the Pacific Northwest to central California. Often times powerful winds batter the region as they blow in off the Pacific Ocean and produce massive rainfall amounts. On the east side of the mountain ranges that run through are area significant snowfalls often occur. On December 12, 1995, a ”monster storm” slammed Washington, Oregon, northern and central California. The storm brought flooding rains and hurricane force winds. Wind gusts were recorded as high as 119 mph at Sea Lion Caves, OR. The central barometric pressure dropped to 28.45". 12.27" of rain fell at Marin, CA and 80 mph wind gusts were recorded at San Francisco, CA. 1.5 million people were without power. In some places power was off for weeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On December 11, 1905, the highest temperature in South American history recorded at 120°F in Rivadavia, Argentina. Rivadavia is located in northern Argentina, just south of the Paraguayan border in the Gran Chaco and east of the Andes. This coastal province sees a wide range of temperatures due to its position along the sea. In Rivadavia, the heat is intense from November to February, with average highs temperatures of generally of 95 °F, In winter, from May to mid-August, the daytime high temperatures drop to around 75 °F. However, the daily temperature range can be remarkable, it can get hot even in winter, but it can sometimes get cold at night, especially when the Pampero blows a cold wind coming from the southern lands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

According to the website Vox.com before World War II, few US cities used salt in the winter. When snow fell, local governments would plow the roads and then spread sand and cinders around to improve traction. Cars would don snow chains, and people generally accepted that the roads weren't always passable in icy conditions. But as America's highways expanded and became ever more crucial to the economy, that changed. Increasingly, truckers and commuters needed to be able to drive in all conditions. New Hampshire's state government became the first to use salt on the roads in the winter of 1941–'42, and the practice spread as the interstate highway system was built in the 195-‘s and grew. Road salt is basically sodium chloride — much like table salt — and comes from deposits leftover after prehistoric oceans evaporated, with huge mines in Ohio, Michigan, New York, Kansas, and Louisiana. Oftentimes, extra chemicals will be mixed in. For instance, road salt is less effective at melting ice when temperatures drop below 20 degrees — when it gets extremely cold, other chemicals like magnesium chloride or calcium chloride are mixed in. Salt, after all, has plenty of drawbacks. It can corrode the steel in cars, trucks, bridges, and reinforcing rods in concrete — weakening valuable infrastructure. Transportation departments can add chemicals to the salt to inhibit corrosion or add coating to steel, but this gets pricey. One study in Utah estimated that salt corrosion now costs the US almost $20 billion a year. Salt dissolves and splits into sodium and chloride, it washes away, into rivers and streams. Chloride, in particular, doesn't get filtered out naturally by soil and accumulates in waterways. In December 2014, the US Geological Survey found that chloride levels were on the rise in 84 percent of urban streams studied — with 29 percent exceeding federal safety limits. On December 10, 1699 in one of the first major ice storms in New England recorded history, ice shut down the city of Boston for a week – there was no salt or anything else to cause the ice to melt as temperatures remain very cold for days. In addition, the ice caused massive damage to orchards in the region as the heavy frozen rain brought down many tree limbs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

December 9, 1977 brought a massive snowstorm accompanied by powerful winds and blindly low visibility to southern Ontario as an intense storm system moved across the Ohio Valley in the United States. The total snowfall for the storm averaged about a foot in most places, but some areas received much more, as enhanced snowfall was created by additional lake effect snowfall combined with the large-scale storm system. The blizzard was made unique by the sustained winds, gusting up to 70 mph which picked up the snowdrifts already accumulated earlier in the season and dumped that snow load in western New York and southern Ontario. 2-day totals brought close to 40 inches of snow. The combination of roads drifted shut and the powerful wind that continued unabated for several days caused the city of London, Ontario to be isolated for days. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The December 7-8, 1703 Windstorm (November 26-27 on the old calendar still used in England at the time) was the most damaging to have affected the southern part of Britain for at least 500 years. The fame of the storm owes much to the fact that it cut a swathe of damage through London. The City of London had been entirely rebuilt after the 1666 Great Fire of London, and thatch had been prohibited for use in roofing to reduce the fire hazard. After the storm: ‘the streets lay so covered with Tiles and Slates, from the Tops of the Houses, especially in the Out-parts, that the quantity is incredible, and the Houses were so universally stript, that all the Tiles in Fifty Miles round would be able to repair but a small Part of it’. Approximately 2,000 massive stacks of chimneys were blown down in and about London, along with gable ends of Houses, some whole roofs and 16-20 entire houses on the edge of the town. The level of damage was similar in many towns and villages across southern Britain, with the majority of houses partly or completely stripped of tiles. As in London, a significant number of houses were demolished by the collapse of a central chimney stack. In all more than 800 dwelling houses were blown down, and in the county of Kent there were over 1,000 out-houses and barns destroyed. One hundred churches had the lead sheeting rolled up or blown off their roofs, as well as pinnacles dislodged, windows broken, and in a few cases, steeples collapsed into the remainder of the structure. Of all buildings, the most vulnerable were windmills with more than 400 either toppled and broken, or burnt to the ground after the sails rotated at such speed as to cause the axles and brake to overheat and catch fire. There was widespread destruction of millions of trees in forests, parks and orchards. Although the storm in England occurred entirely at night, when casualty rates are around a quarter of daytime, 123 people were killed on land in England and Wales, due to the collapse of roofs and chimneys. 21 people were killed by falling stacks of chimneys in London, with 200 severely wounded and maimed. At least another 20 died in damage in continental Europe. Around 80 people are known to have drowned in their cottages in the marshlands. Even these totals are dwarfed by the estimated 8,000 killed in more than 100 shipwrecks at sea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For much of the country, the weather Hawaii was experiencing in the late stages of autumn 1941 would have been considered unseasonably warm, but in Hawaii, the mild temperatures and partially cloudy skies were common at that time of year. Nobody on the island of Oahu on December 7, 1941 expected there to be any significance to the weather conditions, but little did they know that the beautiful weather would lead to the start of a terrible morning. As Japanese fighters crossed the Pacific, they were given hope that their mission of a sneak attack on the 7th US Fleet anchored near Honolulu in Pearl Harbor would succeed when the announcement was made of “clouds mostly over the mounts. Visibility good.” There was nothing obstructing their sight-lines, no heavy cloud cover to hide the harbor and no heavy rains to make flight difficult. After crossing the rough waters of the North Pacific, the Japanese were met with a clear “long white line of coast” once the island was in view. Though the United States suffered greatly due to the clear conditions of the morning, something else was happening approximately 2,200 miles away at Wake Island. Scheduled to return to Pearl Harbor on the morning of the 7th, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, encountered unfavorable conditions. As the Enterprise tried to return on schedule, she was met with rough seas that delayed the arrival, this turned out to be a strike of good fortune. Had the mighty vessel made it back to Pearl Harbor on time, she would have been engaged by Japanese fighters and likely damaged or destroyed. The USS Enterprise played a vital role in World War II, earning enough commendations to become the most decorated US ship in the war. The good weather at Perl Harbor aided the Japanese attack, but the adverse weather that prevented the Enterprise from returning and perhaps being sunk, greatly aided the American cause and that ship helped turn the tide of the war in the pacific. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The National Christmas Tree is a large evergreen tree located in the northeast quadrant of The Ellipse near the White House in Washington, D. C. Each year since 1923, the tree has been decorated as a Christmas tree. Every year, early in December, the tree is traditionally lit by the President of the United States Every president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has made formal remarks during the tree lighting ceremony. In 1970 the 78-foot tall blue spruce from South Dakota’s Black Hills was carried to Washington, D.C. on a train. While en route, the train derailed twice. Then the weekend before the tree lighting ceremony, on December 6, 1970, the tree blew over in high winds and several cut branches had to be attached to the tree to replace damaged ones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The city of Vicksburg lies hard against the Mississippi River at a sharp bend in that river. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vicksburg was built by French colonists in 1719. It was incorporated as Vicksburg in 1825 named after Methodist missionary Newitt Vick. In the American Civil War, it was a key Confederate river-port, and its surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, in July 1863, after a month’s long siege marked the turning-point of the war. Much destruction was visited upon the city as it held out with constant shelling from cannon fire. On December 5, 1953 Vicksburg, was visited by a tornado outbreak that was a deadly severe weather event that affected northeastern Louisiana, southeastern Arkansas, and western Mississippi on December 5, 1953. At least four confirmed tornadoes touched down. One of the tornadoes produced F5 damage as it moved through the city of Vicksburg, causing 38 deaths and injuring at least 270 along the seven-mile path of devastation. Historical records show that the ravages visited upon the city from the severe weather in on single afternoon caused more damage and destruction than months of war. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The North Carolina ice storm of 2002 caused up to an inch of freezing rain from December 4 into December 5 in central North Carolina. A total of 24 people were killed, and as many as 1.8 million people were left without electricity. Power outages began December 4, and power was not completely restored until December 14. Raleigh got the most freezing rain from a single storm since 1948, and Bristol, Tennessee received the most ice it had seen in 28 years. The storm also produced heavy rain in both the mountains and coastal plain of North Carolina. Much of the Southern Plains and the Northeast received snow with this system. During the power outages many residents used propane and kerosene powered generators and heaters to combat the cold, with some resorting to moving charcoal grills indoors to heat their households. The increased usage of these heating methods, particularly grills led to a substantial number of cases of carbon monoxide poisoning. Varying reports cite up to 200 cases of poisoning. Hispanic residents were disproportionately affected by the impacts of the ice storm, sustaining 23% of total injuries and 65% of carbon monoxide poisonings during the storm period. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Great Smog of London, or Great Smog of 1952, was a severe air pollution event that affected the British capital in early December 1952. A period of unusually cold weather, combined with a large region of high pressure and windless conditions, collected airborne pollutants—mostly arising from the use of coal—to form a thick layer of smog over the city. It lasted from December 3 to December 9, 1952, then dispersed quickly when the weather changed. It caused major disruption by reducing visibility and even penetrating indoor areas, far more severely than previous smog events, called “pea-soupers”. Government medical reports in the following weeks estimated that up to December 8, 4,000 people had died as a direct result of the smog and 100,000 more were made ill by the smog's effects on the human respiratory tract. More recent research suggests that the total number of fatalities may have been considerably greater, one paper suggesting about 6,000 more died in the following months as a result of the event. London has suffered since the 13th century from poor air quality and this worsened in the 1600s as the city grew and coal become the common method to heat homes. The Great Smog is thought to be the worst air pollution event in the history of the United Kingdom, and the most significant for its effects on environmental research, government regulation, and public awareness of the relationship between air quality and health. It led to several changes in practices and regulations, including the Clean Air Act of 1956. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unusual early winter cold moved out of Canada in the last week of November 1896. Few low temperature records were set but the cold was persistent and held sway from Mississippi and Alabama across Georgia and all the way to the Carolinas. Fortunately for the first few days of the cold outbreak there was no precipitation. Then on December 1, 1896, a reinforcing surge of air reached the region all the way from the Arctic, at the same time a storm was gathering strength on the Gulf coast near New Orleans. That storm system moved east northeastward across the southern portions of Alabama and pulled moisture out of the Gulf. Snow began to break out all across Dixie. When the storm departed on the evening of December 2, 1896 records for snowfall had been set in many southern cites for the month of December. 4 inches of snow fell in Raleigh with more than half a foot of snow in Atlanta and 10 inches in Charlotte, North Carolina and Greeneville, South Carolina. Without any means to clear the snow from city streets commerce came to a halt for several days. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rain fell in San Francisco often in the first half of November 1876 and it would seem that the winter or rainy season, along the west coast of the United States might turn out rather wet. December averages almost a dozen days of rain in the month with rainfall totals close to 4 inches on the average. No rain fell on December 1, 1876, not on the second. In fact, not one drop of rain fell for the entire month as a persistent area of high pressure camped along the west coast for the entire month and into January deflecting storms to its north. No rain fell in area all across the northern half of California, not only in San Francisco but also Sacramento and even up in rainy Portland Oregon less than an inch feel for the entire month in one of the driest periods on record, even including today in the current era of drought in the west. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

n Buffalo, New York, during November, snow falls an average of 4.9 days and averages and monthly accumulation of 7.9" of snow. In Buffalo, during the entire year, snow falls for 61 days, and averages 94.7". On November 30, 2001 the weather record books closed for the month in Buffalo. Amazingly no snow, not even a trace was reported for the entire month. This was the first time that happened for the city in the month of November since records first stared to be kept in 1871. Interestingly the previous November of 2000 was a record-breaking snowfall November for Buffalo with 45.6” recorded in the month, two Novembers in succession, one with the greatest November snowfall the next year, the least. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Red River, New Mexico area has a rich history. Indigenous Apaches established settlements in the region hundreds of years ago. Fur trappers and prospectors moved into the area as they named River City, as Red River was first called. Hundreds of gold, silver and copper mines were carved into the mountain with names like Golden Treasure, Silver King and Black Copper. Red River's population soared. There were stores, a livery stable, two newspapers, a sawmill, blacksmith shop, barber shop, more than a dozen saloons, several hotels and boarding houses, a dance hall and a hospital. The mines played out eventually, but soon homesteaders outnumbered prospectors. The town gained new momentum by renting abandoned mining cabins to flatland visitors seeking refuge from the heat. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, ski areas soon started to develop. In those days without artificially made snow Red River and indeed ski resorts across the world relied on natural snowfall. Some locations fared well – but others would suffer from snow droughts and be ruined. Snow making in the United States started mainly in the eastern states after World War II. In the west, in places like Red River, snowmaking was still a novelty in 1975. On November 29, 1975, the ski season started off with a bang when 34” of snow fell setting up a great start to the ski season and also but the 34” also set a New Mexico state record for a 24-hour snowfall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On November 28, 1973, warm, humid air moving northward from the Gulf of Mexico out ahead of a strong cold front fed violent weather in the lower Ohio Valley and all across the southern United States. Tornadoes and flash floods killed 3 people and injured more than 600 during the day. 9 twisters touched down in southern Louisiana, northern Alabama, and Tennessee. Hundreds of houses and trailer homes were destroyed as the cold front blasted into Georgia and the Carolinas. Huntsville, Alabama was hardest hit - winds were clocked at 94 mph before the weather instruments broke. Extensive flooding occurred in southern West Virginia. Warm air surged northward ahead of the storm system as temperature readings reached close to 70 as far north as Washington DC, Philadelphia and New York City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The famous "Portland" storm struck off Cape Cod on November 27, 1898 with loss of 200 lives in strong winds and heavy wind whipped snowfall across southern New England. Many were lost in 50 small vessels to the raging sea off the coast. 27” of snow fell in New London, CT. 15" at Waterbury, CT. A peak wind of 72 mph was recorded at Boston. Boston received more than 12” of snow... then 5” more fell on November 30th to give them their deepest ever Nov. snow depth at 16". Boston Harbor filled up with shipwrecks. Block Island had an estimated gust to 98 mph. Docks in Boston Harbor where also torn up disrupting shipping commerce for weeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Queen Elizabeth Way – better known as the QEW is the major super highway that runs from Niagara Falls across southern Ontario to Toronto, Canada’s largest city and one the world’s major metropolises. Each day hundreds of thousands of travelers, computers and others travel the highway. On November 26, 1983 a bitter cold airmass had settled in over the region. Lingering moisture held close to the ground from a storm just a few days earlier. Meanwhile a bank of low clouds formed, it was the perfect setup for fog to form. Fog began to appear just as rush hour started. The fog formed a thin layer of moisture that quickly froze, the result was black ice – invisible to drivers at first. Treacherous morning rush hour conditions resulted caused a more than 100-car pile-up and closed the QEW for hours. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On November 25, 1950, one of the greatest November storms in recorded North American History blasted the eastern half of the United States and Canada with unprecedented early season snow and cold, paralyzing the region for more than a week and causing untold damage and suffering. Cold air had been scarce in the lower 48 states in November, but was building to prodigious proportions across the artic. It was unleased southward in a bitter blast that would even be extreme in the depths of winter let along November. Caused by a huge wave action high in the atmosphere in the jet stream those high-level winds plunged southward right out of the Yukon. On the eastern side of the continent the wave action cut off into a swirling ball of winds that spawned a monster storm. Known as The Great Appalachian Storm, it achieved the region's greatest sustained wind force when gales continued at many points for 12 hours or more. At coastal cities, such as Newark and Boston, single minute speeds in excess of 80 mph were registered. Peak gusts were recorded of 110 mph at Concord, NH, 108 mph at Newark, NJ, and 100 mph at Hartford, CT. Atop Mt. Washington a wind gust hit 160 mph from the SE early on the 26th. Central Park in the heart of sheltered Manhattan Island set an 80-year record with fastest mile of 70 mph. There were 34 deaths across New York State. Heavy flooding rains along coast. The snowfalls were equally as extreme almost 28” in Pittsburgh. Toronto had its greatest one-day November snowfall of a foot and in Steubenville Ohio snow piled up to a depth of more than 36” – 3 feet! Roads were blocked and roofs collapsed. Just behind the storm came some of the coldest temperature of the winter. Both Louisville, Kentucky and Nashville, Tennessee dipped to 1 below zero the earliest below zero reading on record. In Atlanta the mercury dropped to 2 above, and despite sunshine the afternoon high temperature only reached 17. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.