DATASTREME ATMOSPHERE DAILY SUMMARY
Friday, 16 January 2015
This DataStreme Atmosphere Daily Summary contains Historical Weather Events for this date. 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.weather.com/news (The Weather Channel)
or
http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/hpcdiscussions.php?disc=pmdspd (The National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center)
In addition, new items will appear in this week's Weekly Weather and Climate News for other weather and climate information from this past week. DataStreme Atmosphere Daily Summaries and Investigation files will return with the Spring 2015 DataStreme Atmosphere course during Preview Week on Monday, 19 January 2015.
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)
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Prepared by Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2014, The American Meteorological Society.