Historical Weather Events

HISTORICAL WEATHER EVENTS - 13 August

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

...1831...A blue sun was widely observed in the Southern states. The phenomenon was believed to have pre-staged Nat Turner's slave uprising. (David Ludlum)
...1919...High winds and heavy rain struck the Middle Atlantic Coast Region. In New Jersey, winds gusted to 60 mph at Atlantic City, and nine inches of rain fell at Tuckerton. The wind and rain leveled crops and stripped trees of fruit causing several million dollars damage. (David Ludlum)
...1950...Hurricane Able was the first Atlantic hurricane to be given a "phonetic" name. The first storm was named with an "A", the second with a "B", and so on. It was not until 1953 that actual names were given to tropical storms. (National Weather Service files)
...1980...The afternoon high at New York City was just 89 degrees. On fifteen days during the month, the temperature reached at least 90 degrees for their hottest August of record. (The Weather Channel)
...1985...Hail larger than golf balls, driven by 70-mph winds, moved down crops, stripped trees, and broke windows, near Logan, KS. Road graders cleared three-foot drifts of hail on Kansas Highway 9 east of Logan. (The Weather Channel)
...1986... Flagstaff, AZ received 3.04 inches of rain, the most ever for a single day in August. (Intellicast)
...1987...Thunderstorms deluged the Central Gulf Coast States with torrential rains. Thunderstorms in Mississippi drenched Marion County with up to 15 inches of rain during the morning hours, with 12.2 inches reported at Columbia. Floodwaters swept cars away in the Lakeview subdivision of Columbia when the Lakeview Dam broke. Flash flooding caused more than three million dollars damage in Marion County. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
...1988...A dozen cities in the northeastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Lansing, MI reported a record 35 days of 90-degree weather for the year, Detroit, MI reported a record 37 days of 90 degree heat for the year, and Williamsport, PA reported a record 38 days of 90-degree weather for the year. (The National Weather Summary)
...1989...Thunderstorms developing in a tropical airmass over the northeastern U.S. soaked Connecticut and Massachusetts with four to eight inches of rain over the weekend, between the 11^th and 13^th of the month. Hartford, CT received 7.70 inches of rain. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
...1993...Phoenix, AZ topped 100 degrees for the sixty-fifth straight day, breaking the record set just in 1989. (Intellicast)
...2004...After passing just west of Key West with 110-mph winds, Hurricane Charley intensified rapidly and possessed 145-mph gusts just three hours later as it made landfall on the west coast of Florida. The storm crossed the state, bringing 100-mph winds to Walt Disney World. It re-emerged over the Atlantic Ocean still as a Category 1 hurricane, and then curved northward into the Carolinas. There were 15 fatalities. (National Weather Service files)
...2011...Powerful thunderstorm winds caused a large concert stage to collapse at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis, killing seven people and injuring 48. (National Weather Service files)
...2012...At 4 pm Needles, CA reported light rain with a temperature of 115 degrees, which is the world's highest temperature ever recorded while rain was falling. (National Weather Service files)