Friday Daily Summary

DATASTREME ATMOSPHERE DAILY SUMMARY

Friday, 16 January 2009

This DataStreme Atmosphere Daily Summary contains Historical Weather Events for this date. A sample DataStreme Daily Summary similar to those that appear when the DataStreme course is being offered is available via the homepage. Current weather data are available on the homepage as usual. If you are looking for an alternative description of daily weather, you could try:

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/stormcenter/front.htm (USA Today)
or
http://www.weather.com/newscenter/fcstsummary.html (The Weather Channel)

In addition, new items will appear in the Weekly Weather and Climate News. DataStreme Atmosphere Daily Summaries and Investigation files will return with the Spring 2009 DataStreme Atmosphere course during Preview Week on Monday, 19 January 2009.

HISTORICAL WEATHER EVENTS - 16 January

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

...1831...The "great snowstorm" that raged from Georgia to Maine ended. This storm produced the heaviest snowfall over the largest area of any storm studied by weather historian David Ludlum. Accumulations exceeded 10 inches from the Ohio Valley across much of the Atlantic coast north of Georgia. Washington, DC reported 13 inches with 18 inches at Baltimore, MD, 18 to 36 inches near Philadelphia, PA, 15 to 20 inches at New York City, and 20 to 30 inches over southern New England. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
...1916...San Francisco, CA had the greatest storm. Extensive wind damage occurred throughout central California. (Intellicast)
...1964...Fort Worth, TX received 7.5 inches of snow, and Dallas reported a foot of snow. (David Ludlum)
...1982...The second severe arctic outbreak of the year hit as a vast arctic anticyclone sprawled from British Columbia to Louisiana. The zero degree line dropped into Texas with the temperature at Amarillo falling from 55 degrees to one degree below zero and Oklahoma City dropping from 62 degrees to 10 degrees. (Intellicast)
...1987...A winter storm produced a total of 61 inches of snow at Rye, CO, and wind gusts to 100 mph in Utah. The storm then spread heavy snow from the Texas Panhandle to Indiana. Tulia, TX received 16 inches of snow, and up to 14 inches was reported in western Oklahoma. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
...1988...A powerful Pacific storm battered the coast of southern California. Winds gusting to 65 mph uprooted trees in the San Diego area, while Los Angeles recorded a barometric pressure reading of 29.25 inches of mercury (990.6 millibars) -- the lowest in 100 years of official record keeping. A foot of snow fell and wind gusted to 70 mph in the Lake Tahoe Basin of Nevada. Showers and thunderstorms produced 2.28 inches of rain at Brownsville, TX, their third highest total for any day in January. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (Intellicast)
...1989...Strong chinook winds plagued much of the state of Wyoming. Winds gusted to 80 mph at Cody, and wind gusts to 100 mph were reported in eastern and northwestern Wyoming. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
...1990...Heavy snow fell across the Prince William Sound area and the Susitna Valley of southern Alaska. Valdez was buried under 64.9 inches of snow in less than two days, including a record 47.5 inches in 24 hours. Up to 44 inches of snow was reported in the Susitna Valley. The heavy snow blocked roads, closed schools, and sank half a dozen vessels in the harbor. (Storm Data)
...1994...Bitterly cold air prevailed across the Great Lakes and the northeast. Alpena, MI dipped to 28 degrees below zero to tie its record low for January. Rochester, NY plunged to 17 degrees below zero for a new record low temperature for January. Boston, MA mean temperature for the day was only 2 degrees -- the city's coldest day in 26 years. Watertown, NY was the cold spot in the nation, with a morning low of 43 degrees below zero. (Intellicast)

17 January

...1817...A "luminous snowstorm" occurred in Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. Saint Elmo's fire appeared as static discharges on roof peaks, fence posts, and the hats and fingers of people. Thunderstorms prevailed over central New England. (David Ludlum)
...1867...A severe wind and snowstorm paralyzed the northeast with 12 inches of snow and hurricane force winds. The old colony railroad was snow bound for 10 days. (Intellicast)
...1893...The mercury dipped to 17 degrees below zero at Millsboro, DE to establish a state record. (The Weather Channel)
...1972...A single storm unloaded 77.5 inches of snow at Summit, MT to establish a state record. (The Weather Channel)
...1982...The "Cold Sunday" in the United States. The coldest in the nation that day was 52 degrees below zero near Tower, MN with International Falls, MN following closely at 45 below and Chicago, IL at 25 below. Buffalo, NY had a high for the day of 2 below and Princeton, NJ reached 2 above zero at 2 PM. New January records were set at Buffalo at 16 below zero, Milwaukee, WI at 26 below (coldest in 111 years), and Washington, DC at 5 below (coldest since 1934). Montgomery, AL dropped to 2 below zero and Jackson, MS fell to 5 below zero. Florida escaped the freeze. (Intellicast)
Strong chinook winds caused severe wind damage in Boulder, CO. Wind gusts to 118 mph was recorded on the roof of the Environmental Research Laboratories (ERL), and a wind gust to 137 mph was measured atop the roof of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) building (in the southwest part of the city, 600 feet above ground level). The high winds uprooted trees and damage roofs. (Storm Data)
...1987...A winter storm spread snow from the Southern Rockies into the Middle Mississippi Valley and southwestern sections of the Great Lakes Region, and freezing rain across Texas and Oklahoma. Snowfall totals ranged up to 16 inches at Tulia, TX, with 12 inches at Wellington, KS. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
...1988...A Pacific storm battered the southern coast of California. Winds gusting to 65 mph uprooted trees in San Diego. Los Angeles reported an all-time record low barometric pressure reading of 29.25 inches. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
...1989...Strong chinook winds along the eastern slopes of the Rockies gusted to 90 mph near Rollinsville, CO, and reached 94 mph near Big Timber, MT. Heavy snow blanketed parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley, with eight inches reported in Douglas County, WI. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
...1990...Twenty cities across the southeastern half of the country reported record high temperatures for the date. Record highs included 61 degrees at Williamstown, PA and 85 degrees at Brownsville, TX. Evening thunderstorms produced large hail and damaging winds from eastern Texas to Mississippi. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
...1994...Louisville, KY was blitzed with 15.9 inches in 24 hours for not only its greatest 24 hour snowfall ever, but also its greatest snowstorm ever, as a massive overrunning pattern developed over the frigid arctic air that was entrenched across the eastern U.S. Lucasville, OH was buried under 30 inches and up to 23 inches was reported in Robertson County in Kentucky. (Intellicast)
...1996...High winds behind a powerful low-pressure system battered southern high plains. Sustained winds hit 105 mph with gusts to 128 mph at Guadeloupe Pass, TX. Winds gusts hit reached 89 mph at White Sands, NM and 75 mph at El Paso, TX. One person was killed and three were injured when the high winds collapsed a food mart roof in Anthony, TX. El Paso recorded its lowest barometric pressure ever with 29.22 inches of mercury (989.5 millibars). (Intellicast)

18 January

...1857...A great "Cold Storm" swept across the Atlantic Seaboard from North Carolina to Maine. Snowfall totals of 12 inches were common, whole gales caused shipwrecks and damage property on islands, and temperatures near zero prevailed from Virginia northward. Great drifts of snow blocked transportation. Richmond, VA was cut off from Washington, DC for a week. (David Ludlum)
...1930...The record low temperature for the state of Oregon was set at Seneca when the thermometer dipped to 54 degrees below zero. (Intellicast)
...1943...The record low temperature for the state of Oklahoma was set at Watts when the mercury dipped to 27 degrees below zero. The record low temperature for the state of Idaho was set at Island Park Dam when the temperature fell to 60 degrees below zero. (Intellicast)
...1957...The record low temperature for the state of Massachusetts was set at Birch Hill Dam when the mercury fell to 35 degrees below zero. This record was tied in January 1981. (Intellicast)
...1973...A baby was carried 300 to 400 yards by the strong winds of a tornado at Corey, LA, yet received only minor injuries. (The Weather Channel)
...1977...The record low temperature for the state of South Carolina was set near Long Creek when the mercury plunged to 20 degrees below zero. (Intellicast)
...1982...A cold morning in the Northeast with the temperature at Princeton, NJ at 9 degrees below zero and Bridgehampton on New York's Long Island at 10 degrees below zero, close to an all-time record. (Intellicast)
...1986...A Pacific storm dumped heavy rains over northwestern Washington, with 6 to 9 inches of rain in the Seattle area. There were 30 mudslides in the Seattle area alone. Major flooding occurred along with tremendous land erosion. Land under a railroad track south of Seattle gave way, derailing an Amtrak train with 28 people injured as a result. (Intellicast)
...1987...A storm in the south central U.S. blanketed Oklahoma City with eight inches of snow, their highest total since 1948. Snowfall totals in Oklahoma ranged up to 13 inches at Gage, with drifts five feet high. Roof collapses across the state resulted in seven million dollars damage. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
..1988...A storm in the southwestern U.S. produced a 15 to 20-foot surf along the southern coast of California resulting in more than fifty million dollars damage. A small tornado in California's Orange County lifted a baseball dugout 15 feet into the air -- depositing it some 150 yards away, in the midst of a city street. The same storm was also responsible for 26 inches of snowfall at Duck Creek, UT. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (Intellicast)
...1989...While fair and mild weather prevailed across the forty-eight states, bitter cold gripped Alaska. The high temperature for the day at Fairbanks was 30 degrees below zero. Thunderstorms along the western Gulf coast drenched parts of southwest Houston with more than four inches of rain. (National Weather Summary)
...1990...A winter storm produced heavy snow and high winds across the southwestern U.S. Snowfall totals ranged up to 18 inches at Lake Arrowhead, CA and Ashford, AZ. High winds in New Mexico gusted to 100 mph east of Albuquerque. Unseasonably warm weather continued from Texas to the Atlantic coast. Twenty cities reported record high temperatures for the date including Roanoke, VA with a reading of 71 degrees. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
...1993...Salt Lake City, UT recorded 0.5 inches of snow on this day to push its seasonal snowfall to 76.0 inches to set a new seasonal snowfall record. The old record was 75.6 inches set back in the 1948-49 season. Total snowfall for the month at this point stood at 45.1 inches, which is a record for any month. The old record was 41.9 inches set in 1977. The blast of arctic air spread over the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. Chicago's high temperature for the day reached only 11 degrees below zero -- tying its record for the lowest daily maximum temperature ever. Tower, MN dropped to 44 degrees below zero for a morning low. Super intense snow squalls commenced in the lee of Lake Ontario in New York State. Adams was buried under 36 inches of snow in only 9 hours. Lowville picked up 25 inches for a total of 65 inches on the ground. A big 3-day snowstorm came to an end at Valdez, AK over which time 57 inches of snow buried the city. (Intellicast)
...1994...The massive overrunning snowstorm that had buried the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys the day before moved northeastward and clobbered interior sections of New England and the mid-Atlantic. Two day snowfall totals included 24 inches at Grafton, NH, 23 inches at Long Pond, PA, 22 inches at Patten, ME and Hanover, NH, 20 inches at Eustis, ME, and 19 inches at Caribou, ME. 20 inches of new snow at Jay Peak, VT raised its snow cover to 91 inches. Wilkes-Barre Scranton, PA recorded 16.6 inches, which brought its monthly snowfall to 36.9 inches -- its snowiest January on record. (Intellicast)