DATASTREME ATMOSPHERE DAILY SUMMARY

Wednesday, 15 October 2008

Since this week is the scheduled first Break Week for the Fall 2008 offering of the DataStreme Atmosphere course, today's 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.usatoday.com/weather/default.htm (USA Today)
or
http://www.weather.com/newscenter/fcstsummary.html (The Weather Channel)

The DataStreme Atmosphere Daily Summaries and Investigation files will resume Monday, 20 October 2008.

HISTORICAL WEATHER EVENTS - 15 October

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

• ...1876...Snow fell in the rear of a coastal storm from Virginia to New England. New York City had its earliest 32-degree temperature and 1/2 inch of snow. Fall River, MA had 3.5 inches of snow. (Intellicast)
• ...1880...A violent early season blizzard raked Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas. Northwest Iowa received 7 inches of snow. Winds gusted to 70 mph at Yankton, SD, and snowdrifts 10 to 15 feet high were reported in northwest Iowa and southeast South Dakota. Saint Paul, MN reported a barometric pressure of 28.65 inches on the 16^th. Railroads were blocked by drifts of snow that remained throughout the severe winter to follow. Gales did extensive damage to ships on the Great Lakes. (15^th -16^th) (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• ...1947...A hurricane made a hairpin turn off the Georgia coast after being seeded with dry ice. The storm moved over Savannah and into Georgia. (Intellicast)
• ...1954...Hurricane Hazel struck the Carolina coastline near Cape Fear, NC. The hurricane (a category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) demolished every pier along a 170-mile stretch from Myrtle Beach, SC to Cedar Island, NC, and obliterated entire lines of beach homes. At Long Beach, 300 homes vanished; no debris remained. Hurricane Hazel also destroyed 1500 homes as it moved inland with seventeen-foot tides. Winds between Myrtle Beach, SC and Cape Fear, NC gusted to 150 mph. As the storm came inland it quickly transformed into a powerful extratropical storm and raced north northwestward though the Mid-Atlantic States. Washington, DC had a record sustained wind of 78 mph with gusts to 98 mph. Hurricane Hazel caused 163 million dollars damage, and claimed the lives of 98 persons. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• ...1965...Fort Lauderdale, FL was deluged with 25.28 inches of rain in a 48 hour period causing considerable road and street damage and inundating numerous recently planted vegetable fields and homes. (Intellicast)
• ...1987...Unseasonably cold weather continued in the eastern U.S., with thirteen cities reporting record low temperatures for the date. The low of 34 degrees at Montgomery, AL was their coldest reading of record for so early in the season. Lows of 32 degrees at Harrisburg, PA and 34 degrees at Parkersburg, WV marked their third straight morning of record cold. (The National Weather Summary)
• ...1988...The cold high-pressure system responsible for the record low temperatures in the eastern U.S. began to move out to sea, giving way to a trend toward "Indian Summer". Thunderstorms developing ahead of a cold front produced golf ball size hail at Altamont, KS and hail two inches in diameter at Yates City, IL. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)
• ...1989...Hurricane Jerry made landfall at Galveston, TX at 6:30 PM (CDT), on one of the latest dates for a storm in this region. Winds at the Galveston Airport reached 75 mph, with gusts to 1 00 mph. Tides along the island were six to eight feet, and rainfall totals ranged up to slightly more than six inches north of Beaumont. Three persons were killed when their vehicle was blown off the Galveston seawall into the pounding surf. Total damage along the Upper Texas Coast was estimated at fifteen million dollars. Thunderstorms produced severe weather in Lower Michigan during the late morning. Two persons were injured when a tree fell on their camper at the Traverse City State Park . While strong northerly winds ushered much colder air into the central U.S., unseasonably warm weather continued in the south central and eastern U.S. The afternoon high of 82 degrees at Bluefield, WV was a record for October. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)