ONLINE
DAILY WEATHER SUMMARY
Friday, 18 January 2002
The electronic delivery of current weather narratives for the
Spring 2002 Online Weather Studies Course will begin on Monday,
21 January 2002. This Online Weather Summary contains the Historical
Weather Events for this date. Current weather data are available
on the homepage. If you are looking for an alternative description
of daily weather, you could try:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/ wlead.htm
HISTORICAL WEATHER EVENTS - 18 January
From the files of the Aviation Weather Center, Kansas City,
MO and Intellicast
- ...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 Senca 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. (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
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
Orange County, CA lifted a baseball dugout fifteen feet into the
air and deposited it in the street, 150 yards away. The same storm
also produced 26 inches of snow at Duck Creek, UT. (National Weather
Summary) (Storm Data)
- ...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)
19 January
- ...1786...The temperature at Hartford, CT fell to 24 degrees
below zero. Up to this time, it was the coldest ever known on
a thermometer.
- ...1810...The famous "cold Friday" in New England.
Gale force winds wrecked homes, and accompanied a sudden overnight
drop in temperature of 50 degrees to below zero readings. Tragedy
struck Sanbornton, NH where three children froze to death. (David
Ludlum)
- ...1892...The temperature rose 43 degrees in 15 minutes at
Fort Assiniboine near Havre, MT. (Intellicast)
- ...1925...The record low temperature for the state of Maine
was set at Van Buren when the temperature fell to 48 degrees below
zero. (Intellicast)
- ...1933...Giant Forest, CA received 60 inches of snow in just
24 hours, a state record, and the second highest 24 hour total
of record for the U.S. (David Ludlum)
- ...1977...Snowflakes were observed at Homestead, Miami and
Miami Beach in extreme southern Florida. (David Ludlum)
- ...1987...A storm tracking toward the northeastern U.S. produced
up to 14 inches of snow in northern Indiana. Peru, IN reported
a foot of snow. Six cities in Florida reported new record high
temperatures for the date. The afternoon high of 88 degrees at
Miami equaled their record for the month of January. (National
Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
- ...1988...A powerful storm hit the central U.S. producing
blizzard conditions in the Central High Plains, and severe thunderstorms
in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Snowfall totals ranged up to
36 inches at Wolf Creek Pass, CO, with 31 inches at Elsmere, NE.
A total of 14 tornadoes struck Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama,
and Tennessee. A violent (F4) tornado hit Kosciusko, MS but fortunately
it tracked through mostly woodlands. Tornadoes claimed five lives
in Tennessee, including an F3 tornado in Fayette County, TN that
killed 3 people and injured 24. A tornado at Cullman, AL injured
35 persons. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (Intellicast)
- ...1989...The high temperature for the day at Fairbanks, AK
was a frigid 41 degrees below zero, and the morning low of 24
degrees below zero at Anchorage, AK was their coldest reading
in fourteen years. (National Weather Summary)
- ...1990...Thunderstorms produced large hail and damaging winds
in eastern Texas and Louisiana. Tornadoes at Garland, TX and Apple
Springs, TX each injured one person. Heavy snow spread from the
Southern and Central Rockies into the Great Plains. Storm totals
in New Mexico reached 36 inches at Gascon. Totals in the Central
Plains ranged up to 15 inches near McCook, NE and Garden City,
KS. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
- ...1994....An extremely cold arctic airmass set 67 new record
temperature lows from Minnesota to Virginia, including 10 cities
that recorded their lowest temperatures ever. The following cities
set all-time record lows: Indianapolis, IN (27 below), Akron,
OH, Clarksburg, WV, and Zanesville, OH (25 below), Pittsburgh,
PA, Louisville, KY, Columbus, OH and Youngstown, OH (22 below),
Cleveland, OH (20 below), and Erie, PA (18 below). The mercury
plunged to 36 below zero at New Whiteland, IN to set a new record
low temperature for the state. A low of 52 degrees below zero
was reported in the community of Amasa, MI -- the state's coldest
temperature on record. In the bitter cold, intense lake effect
snow squalls continued in the lee of Lake Ontario. Parish, NY
reported 42 inches of new snow accompanied by several hours of
lightning and thunder. (Intellicast)
- ...1995...Columbia, MO was buried under 19.7 inches of snow
in 24 hours for its greatest 24 hour snowfall and snowstorm ever.
Wind gusts up to 45 mph produced blizzard conditions and thunderstorms
occurred several times during the heavy snow. Interstates 70,
US 63 , and US 54 were closed down. The same storm produced 15
inches of snow at Moline, IL and 14 inches at Blue Jacket, OK.
(Intellicast)
20 January
- ...1854...A large tornado struck the Brandon and Mount Vernon
areas in central Ohio. (Intellicast)
- ...1937...The wettest Inaugural Day of record with 1.77 inches
of rain in 24 hours. Temperatures were only in the 30s as President
Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn in for his second term. (David
Ludlum)
The record low temperature for the state of California was set
at Boca when the thermometer dropped to 45 degrees below zero.
(Intellicast)
- ...1943...Strange vertical antics took place in the Black
Hills of South Dakota. While the temperature at Deadwood was a
frigid 16 degrees below zero, the town of Lead, just a mile and
a half away, but 600 feet higher in elevation, reported a balmy
52 degree reading. (David Ludlum)
- ...1954...The temperature at Rogers Pass, MT plunged to 69.7
degrees below zero to establish a new record for the continental
U.S. (David Ludlum)
- ...1961...The "Kennedy Inaugural snowstorm" belted
the mid Atlantic area and New England. Up to 29 inches of snow
fell in northern New Jersey and southeastern New York. Areas north
and west of Boston, MA received over two feet. This was the second
of three major snowstorms during the 1960-61 winter season in
the northeastern U.S. (Intellicast)
- ...1978...Snowblitz! -- A paralyzing "Nor'easter"
blasted New England and the mid Atlantic states. Boston, MA recorded
21 inches in 24 hours to set a new record 24 hour snowfall amount
-- only to have it broken 2 weeks later. Snowfall was under-forecast
since a predicted change-over from snow to rain did not occur.
Elsewhere, there were 15 to 20 inches in Rhode Island, and one
to two feet of snow in Pennsylvania. Winds along the coast of
Connecticut gusted to 70 mph. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
- ...1987...Gale force winds lingered along the northern Atlantic
coast in the wake of a holiday weekend storm. High winds along
the eastern slopes of the Northern Rockies gusted to 67 mph at
Livingston, MT, and high winds in southern California gusted to
70 mph near San Bernardino. (National Weather Summary) (Storm
Data)
- ...1988...A storm in the Upper Midwest produced heavy snow
and gale force winds. Up to 27.5 inches of snow was reported along
the Lake Superior shoreline of Michigan, with 22 inches at Marquette.
(National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
- ...1989...The temperature in the Washington, DC area warmed
into the lower 50s for the Presidential Inauguration during the
late morning hours, before gusty northwest winds ushered in colder
air that afternoon. (National Weather Summary)
- ...1990...While heavy thunderstorm rains drenched the Central
Gulf Coast States, with 4.23 inches reported at Centreville, AL
in 24 hours, unseasonably warm weather continued across Florida.
Five cities in Florida reported record high temperatures for the
date. Tampa, FL equaled their record high for January of 85 degrees.
(National Weather Summary)
- ...1993...A fast moving 980 millibar low produced high winds
in the Pacific Northwest. A wind gust to 64 mph occurred at the
SeaTac Airport in Seattle, WA -- the second highest wind gust
ever recorded at this location. Wind gusts neared 100 mph at the
mouth of the Columbia river. Over 750,000 people in the vicinity
of Puget Sound lost power. Damage was severe, with 79 homes destroyed
and 581 suffering major damage. In Oregon, wind gusts hit 89 mph
at Netarts and 86 mph at Cape Blanco.
In the southern U.S., train echo thunderstorms drenched Lafayette
and Baton Rouge, LA with 10.83 and 9.02 inches of rain in 24 hours,
respectively (Intellicast)
- ...1994...Frigid conditions persisted over the northeastern
U.S. Rangeley, ME reported 45 degrees below zero for a morning
low for the cold spot in the nation. First Connecticut Lake, NH
dropped to a frigid 44 degrees below zero. Both Pittsburgh, PA
and Cleveland, OH completed their longest stretch of subzero readings
on record, with 52 and 56 consecutive hours, respectively. (Intellicast)
Return to Online Weather Homepage
Prepared by Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2002, The American Meteorological Society.