Old Weather Forum

https://www.weatherforyou.com/weather_history/12-16

1988 - Fairbanks, AK, reported freezing rain and record warm temperatures. The afternoon high of 41 degrees was 43 degrees above normal. Snow and high winds continued to plague the mountains of southern California. Mount Wilson CA reported two inches of rain in six hours during the early morning, and a storm total of more than 3.50 inches of rain. (The National Weather Summary)

2000 - An F4 tornado hits communities near Tuscaloosa, AL, killing 11 people and injuring 125 others. It was the strongest December tornado in Alabama since 1950.

https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in ... ory_Dec_17

1924: From the Monthly Weather Review, "a severe glaze storm occurred in west-central Illinois on December 17 and 18, the area of great destruction embracing a territory about 75 miles in width and 170 miles in length. In the affected area, trees were badly damaged, wires broken, and thousands of electric poles went down. Electric services were paralyzed, and it required weeks to restore operation and months to permanently rebuild the lines.
The street railway company and the Illinois Traction System resumed complete operation 17 days after the storm. Electric light service was completely restored January 10. The ice had practically disappeared from the trees and wires by January 4, but on January 20, there was still considerable ice on the ground.
The Western Union Telegraph Co. lost 8,000 poles and the Illinois Bell Telephone Co. about 23,000. The total damage to wire service in Illinois probably equaled or exceeded $5,000,000." If the loss of business, the damage to trees and possible injury to winter grains, the storm may be considered one of the most disastrous of its kind in the history of Illinois."

https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in ... ory_Dec_18

1944: Typhoon Cobra, also known as the Typhoon of 1944 or Halsey's Typhoon (named after Admiral William "Bull" Halsey), was the United States Navy designation for a tropical cyclone that struck the Task Force 38 in the during World War II in the Pacific. The typhoon was first observed on December 17 as it surprised a fleet of ships in the open waters of the western Pacific Ocean. Sustained winds associated with the storm were up to 100 mph with gusts to 140 mph. On December 18, the small but violent typhoon hit the Task Force while many of the ships were attempting to refuel. Due to the extreme seas and winds, three destroyers capsized and went down with practically all hands, while a cruiser, five aircraft carriers, and three destroyers suffered serious damage. Approximately 790 officers and men were lost or killed with another 80 injured. This storm inflicted more damage on the Navy than any storm since the hurricane at Apia, Samoa, in 1889. In the aftermath of this deadly storm, the Pacific Fleet established new weather stations in the Caroline Islands and, as they were secured, Manila, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Also, new weather central offices (for coordinating data) were established at Guam and Leyte.


A Navy ship's radar captured the structure of a typhoon on December 18. This storm was
the second tropical storm ever to be observed on radar East of the Philippine Islands.


The U.S. Navy light aircraft carrier USS Langley (CVL-27) rolling heavily during Typhoon
Cobra, 18 December 1944. A battleship is steaming behind the carrier. U.S. Navy


A view of USS Cowpens (CVL-25) starboard side flight deck facing aft from the island. The
photo was taken at the time Typhoon Cobra hit the Third Fleet on 18 December 1944.


1986: A strong winter storm, which developed off the coast of New Jersey and moved out to sea, lashed the northeastern U.S. with high winds, heavy rain, and heavy snow. The storm left snowfall amounts of up to 30 inches in Vermont, 24 inches in Massachusetts, and 20 inches in New Hampshire. The highest rainfall amounts approached four inches in southern New England, where winds gusted to 70 mph.

The image above is from a Tweet by the NWS Office in Boston, Massachusetts.

https://www.weatherforyou.com/weather_history/12-19

1924 - The Riverside Ranger Station in Yellowstone Park, WY, reported a low of 59 degrees below zero, a December record for the U.S. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)

1988 - Low pressure and a trailing cold front in the central U.S. brought snow and high winds to parts of the Rocky Mountain Region. Winds in Colorado gusted to 67 mph at La Junta. Thunderstorms along the same cold front produced wind gusts to 65 mph at Kansas City MO. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

2008 - A snow and ice storm on December 19 affected parts of the U.S. Midwest. Over 220,000 homes and businesses across Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio were left without electric services. No fatalities were reported (Reuters).

https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in ... ory_Dec_20

1836: A famous "sudden freeze" occurred in central Illinois. A cold front with 70 mph winds swept through around Noon, dropping the temperature from 40 degrees to near zero in a matter of minutes. Many settlers froze to death. Folklore told of chickens frozen in their tracks and men frozen to saddles. Ice in streams reportedly froze to six inches in a few hours. Click HERE for a presentation from AMS. Click HERE for additional information from a book called History of the early settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois: “Centennial Record.”


1984: Lili, a rare December hurricane, was officially declared a tropical system in the central Atlantic as a distinct eye type feature was apparent on satellite imagery. The hurricane peaked at sustained 80 mph winds and a pressure of 980 millibars or 28.94 inches of mercury, a very respectable Category 1 Hurricane in December.

The image shows Hurricane Lili on December 22, 1984, with winds of 80 mph.

2006: Severe Cyclone Bondo, the equivalent of a Category 4, approaches the Madagascar coast with sustained winds of 138 mph. Click HERE for more information from NASA’s Earth Observatory.

https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in ... ory_Dec_21

1892: From December 21st to the 23rd, Portland, Oregon saw 26 inches of snow!

https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in ... ory_Dec_22

2002: Heavy rains prompted flooding in the mountain city of Teresopolis, located about 90 km north of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. A mudslide was responsible for 9 deaths and 50 injuries.

2004: Tremendous snows occurred in the Ohio Valley. The following cities set new records for their most significant snowstorm ever: Evansville, Indiana 22.3 inches, Dayton, Ohio 16.4 inches, and Paducah, Kentucky 14.2 inches. Other big snowfall totals were 31 inches at Liberty, Indiana, 28 inches at Buena Vista, Indiana, 24 inches at Greenville, Ohio, and 23 inches at Mansfield, Ohio. Click HERE for more information from the NWS Office in Paducah, Kentucky.

https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in ... ory_Dec_23

1924: A storm producing winds of 70 mph caused extensive damage to Sydney, Australia during the evening hours.

From the Kalgoorlie Miner newspaper.

1998: A major ice storm struck central and southeast Virginia and much of North Carolina beginning on Wednesday, December 23, and lasting until Christmas Day morning. Icy conditions caused injuries from slips and falls and numerous vehicle accidents. Ice accumulations of up to an inch brought down trees and power lines. Outages were so widespread with 400,000 customers were without power on Christmas Eve. Some people were without power for up to ten days.

https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in ... ory_Dec_24

1968: The crew of Apollo 8 took this photo, later dubbed “Earthrise,” on December 24th, 1968.
During a broadcast that night, pilot Jim Lovell said: “The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring, and
it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth.”

The image above is from a tweet from the NASA History Office.

2004: An extremely rare snowstorm impacts southeastern Texas on this day. Corpus Christi International Airport officially measured 4.4 inches from this event. This was their second white Christmas ever recorded in Corpus Christi. The other white Christmas occurred in 1918 when 0.1 inches was reported.

https://www.weatherforyou.com/weather_history/12-25

1966 - A white Christmas was enjoyed by residents from North Carolina to New England in the wake of a major snowstorm. Even coastal Virginia was white. (David Ludlum)

1980 - It was the coldest Christmas Day of modern record in the northeastern U.S. Temperatures as cold as 36 degrees below zero were reported in New York State, and as the sharp cold front swept southeastward the temperature at Boston MA plunged from 34 degrees to seven degrees below zero during the day. (David Ludlum)

1988 - A massive winter storm made for a very white Christmas in the western U.S. Las Vegas, NV, reported snow on the ground for the first time of record. Periods of snow over a five day period left several feet of new snow on the ground of ski areas in Colorado, with 68 inches reported at Wolf Creek Pass. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)

2004 - Snow fell on Christmas Day in Deep South Texas. Snow totaled 4.4 inches in Corpus Christi, making it the second White Christmas ever. Farther north, Victoria had their first white Christmas on record when 12.5 inches of snow fell.

2006 - Severe thunderstorms produced four tornadoes in Florida. Columbia, Pasco, Lake and Volusia counties were hardest-hit, including the Daytona Beach area. A tornado generated considerable damage on the campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, delaying the start of the spring semester (Orlando Business Journal).

2010 - Up to 32 inches of snow and blizzard conditions affected parts of the eastern U.S. on December 25th-27th. A state of emergency was declared in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maine. In New York City, up to 24.5 inches of snow fell, effectively shutting down rail lines, major airports, and bus services. Thousands of flights were cancelled and stranded subway riders were forced to spend a night in unheated train cars. One person was reported killed in Maine due to the weather conditions. (NCDC)