Historical Weather Events

HISTORICAL WEATHER EVENTS - 26 January

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

...1843...A destructive tornado hit a factory in Pottsville, PA, killing many people. (Intellicast)
...1937...Flooding occurred along the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, PA to Cairo, IL. The river was 80 feet above flood stage at Cincinnati, Ohio. (Intellicast)
...1938...The Niagara River's worst ice jam on record occurred at Niagara Falls, NY. The jam caused the Falls View Bridge to collapse and buried the Ontario Hydro-Electric Power Commission Plant under 18 feet of water and ice. (National Weather Service files)
...1978...A paralyzing blizzard struck the Midwest. This extremely powerful storm, known as the "Cleveland superbomb", set record low barometric pressure readings from Atlanta, GA to Ontario, Canada. The central pressure of the storm dropped to 957 millibars (28.26 inches) -- very rare for a storm over land. One to three feet of snow fell in Michigan, and 20 to 40 inches were reported across Indiana. Winds reached 70 mph in Michigan and gusted above 100 mph in Ohio. The high winds produced snowdrifts twenty feet high in Michigan and Indiana stranding thousands on the interstate highways. Temperatures in Ohio dropped from the 40s to near zero during the storm. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
...1983...The California coast was battered by a storm which produced record high tides, thirty-two foot waves, and mudslides, causing millions of dollars damage. The storm then moved east and dumped four feet of snow on Lake Tahoe. (22nd-29th) (The Weather Channel)
...1987...A winter storm spread heavy snow across the Middle and Northern Atlantic Coast States, with 18 inches reported at Vineland, NJ, and wind gusts to 65 mph at Chatham, MA. Snow cover in Virginia ranged up to thirty inches following this second major storm in just one week. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
...1988...A snowstorm in the northeastern U.S. produced 19 inches at Austerlitz, NY and Stillwater, NY. A storm in the Great Lakes Region left 16.5 inches at Marquette, MI, for a total of 43 inches in six days. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
...1989...Snow and high winds created blizzard-like conditions in northwestern Vermont. Winds at Saint Albins gusted to 88 mph. In Alaska, the town of Cold Foot (located north of Fairbanks) reported a morning low temperature of 75 degrees below zero. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
...1990...A winter storm spread high winds from the northwestern U.S. to Wyoming and Colorado, with heavy snow in some of the high elevations. Stevens Pass, WA received 17 inches of snow, half of which fell in four hours. In extreme northwest Wyoming, Togwotee Mountain Lodge received 24 inches of snow. Winds in Colorado gusted to 90 mph at Rollinsville. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
...1994...A snowfall of 3.6 inches on this day pushed the monthly snowfall at Wilkes-Barre Scranton, PA to 42.0 inches -- the city's snowiest month ever. (Intellicast)
...1996...A major storm system dumped heavy snow across the central U.S. 15.3 inches was recorded at Green Bay, WI. The 13.7 inches at Des Moines, IA was the city's biggest snowstorm in nearly 23 years. 13 inches of snow fell in 24 hours at La Crosse, WI, the city's greatest 24-hour snowfall total ever in January. Thunderstorms spawned by the same storm system deluged Birmingham, AL with 4.71 inches of rain, the greatest daily January rainfall on record for the location. (Intellicast)
...2011...A record snowstorm hit three major U.S. cities in 2011: Philadelphia received 15.1 inches of snow, Washington D.C. received five inches of snow and government buildings were closed, and New York City reported one to two feet of snow which shut down schools for only the 9th time since 1979. (National Weather Service files)