HISTORICAL WEATHER EVENTS - 17 August

From the files of the Aviation Weather Center, Kansas City, MO and Intellicast

• ...1885...Amos, CA hit 130 degrees to set the unofficial August U.S. high temperature record. (Intellicast)
• ...1915...A hurricane hit Galveston, TX with wind gusts to 120 mph and a twelve-foot storm surge which inundated the city. The storm claimed 275 lives, including forty-two on Galveston Island, with most deaths due to drowning. Of 250 homes built outside the seawall (which was constructed after the catastrophic hurricane of 1900), just ten percent were left standing. (The Weather Channel)
• ...1937...The first official US Weather Bureau radio meteograph (radiosonde) sounding was made at East Boston Airport. (National Weather Service files)
• ...1946...An estimated F-4 tornado killed 11 people and injured 100 others in the Mankato, MN area. The deaths and most of the injuries occurred in the complete destruction of the 26 cabins at the Green Gables tourist camp, 3 miles southwest of Mankato. A 27-ton road grader was reportedly hurled about 100 feet. Another tornado an hour later destroyed downtown Wells, MN. (National Weather Service files)
  
• ...1969...Camille, the second worst hurricane in U.S. history, smashed into the Mississippi coast, making landfall at Pass Christian, MS with sustained winds of 190 mph and gusts well over 200 mph. Winds gusted to 172 mph at Main Pass Block, LA, and to 190 mph near Bay Saint Louis, MS. The hurricane claimed 256 lives, and caused 1.3 billion dollars damage. Several ocean-going ships were carried over seven miles inland by the hurricane. The hurricane produced winds to 200 mph, and a storm surge of 24.6 feet. Complete destruction occurred in some coastal areas near the eye of the hurricane. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• ...1987...Evening thunderstorms produced severe weather in the Northern and Central Plains Region. One thunderstorm spawned a tornado near Fairbury, NE, along with baseball size hail and wind gusts to 100 mph, causing severe crop damage west of town. Ten cities in the eastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Syracuse, NY hit 97 degrees for the first time in twenty-two years. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• ...1988...Fifty-five cities, from the Middle Mississippi Valley to the Middle Atlantic Coast Region, reported record high temperatures for the date. Beckley, WV reported an all-time record high of 96 degrees, and Baltimore, MD hit 104 degrees, marking their thirteenth day of the year with 100-degree heat. Chicago, IL equaled a record with 46 days of 90-degree weather for the year. Thunderstorms produced severe weather from Wisconsin to New Jersey. Thunderstorms in New Jersey produced high winds that gusted to 92 mph at Wrightstown, and blew down a circus tent at Lavallette injuring fourteen persons. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• ...1989...Morning thunderstorms produced three to six-inch rains in Oklahoma, and the Arklatex area of Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana. Tom, OK was soaked with 5.98 inches of rain, and Foreman, AR received 5.55 inches. Evening thunderstorms produced high winds in the Wasatch Front of northern Utah. Thunderstorm winds gusted to 66 mph at Salt Lake City, and flash flooding caused up to two million dollars damage to a marina on Lake Powell. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)
• ...1994...Severe thunderstorms belted central Oklahoma. Winds gusted to 113 mph at Meno, 104 mph at Mangum and 97 mph at Hobart. Hail up to 4.5 inches in diameter driven by the winds totaled 30 mobile homes at Okarche. Boise, ID recorded its 41^st day in a row with 90-degree plus temperatures, a record for that city. (Intellicast)