Old Weather Forum

https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in ... ory_Jan_24

1967: A tornado outbreak across the Central U.S. was the furthest north ever recorded in the winter up to that time. Severe weather occurred across a good portion of the southeast and east-central Iowa. Two-inch hail fell at Armstrong, and over two dozen tornadoes were reported. Five miles north of Fort Madison, one fatality occurred from a tornado, along with six injuries. A tornado causing F4 damage killed 3 people and injured 216 in St. Louis County, Missouri. Storms also affected parts of northern and central Illinois. One strong tornado in Mason County killed one person and injured three others. Another tornado moved across the Champaign-Urbana metropolitan area, injuring five people. Other strong tornadoes were reported across Carroll County in Mt. Carroll, where 12 people were injured, and near Gladstone in Henderson County. Funnel clouds were reported across the southwest section of Chicago, IL. Iowa had never recorded a tornado in January before this outbreak. 32 total tornadoes occurred, 14 of them in Iowa. Nine twisters occurred in Missouri, 8 in Illinois, and 1 in Wisconsin. Click HERE for more information from the NWS Office in Davenport, Iowa.

https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in ... ory_Jan_25

1821: The Hudson River was frozen solid amid the coldest winter in forty-one years. Thousands of persons crossed the ice from New York City to New Jersey, and refreshment taverns were set up in the middle of the river to warm pedestrians.

1937: Las Vegas, Nevada dropped to 8 degrees above zero, setting a record low for the city.


1949: Las Vegas, Nevada, recorded 4.7 inches of snow. This brought the monthly snowfall total to 16.7 inches which still ranks as their snowiest month on record.

https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in ... ory_Jan_26

1937: The wettest month ever in Cincinnati, Ohio, is January 1937, when 13.68 inches fell. Their average January amount is 3.00 inches of precipitation. The overabundance of precipitation over the Ohio River basin caused near-record to record flooding in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. On this day, the river gauge reached 80 feet in Cincinnati, the highest level in the city's history. The Ohio River reached 57 feet in Louisville, Kentucky, on the 27th, setting a new record by ten feet. Seventy percent of the city was underwater at that time. The NWS Office in Louisville, Kentucky, has an informative webpage on this event.

https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in ... ory_Jan_27

1989: Bitter cold air gripped most of Alaska during January 1989. Tanana, near Fairbanks, saw a low temperature of 76 degrees below zero on this day. The high for the day was 60 degrees below zero. With an average temperature of 68 degrees below zero, Tanana saw an average temperature of nearly sixty degrees below normal. McGrath, Alaska, recorded a wind chill of -100°F. This is the lowest wind chill ever observed in the U.S. at a populated location. You can read more about this event from the Alaska Dispatch News by clicking HERE.

https://www.geonames.org/5868547/mcgrath.html
https://www.geonames.org/5875808/tanana.html

https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in ... ory_Jan_28

1887: Snowflakes "as large as milk pans" fell at Fort Keogh of Montana. The flakes, which were said to measure 15 inches across and 8 inches thick, hold the unofficial size record!

Feb 15, 1887 – 1 · St. Albans Daily Messenger (Saint Albans, Vermont) · Newspapers.com

1969: Heavy rains of tropical origin that began on 1/18 ended on this day. As much as 50 inches of rain fell at 7,700 feet. 31 inches of rain fell on the south slopes of Mt. San Gorgonio, 15.5 inches at San Jacinto Peak, around ten inches at Banning, less than one inch from Indio southeast. 91 were reported dead from flooding and mudslides all over California and state-wide.

The image above is from a tweet by the NWS Office in San Diego, California.

1977: The Blizzard of '77 was one of the worst winter storms to hit southern Ontario and upstate New York. With the rapid onset of the storm, about 2,000 students in the Niagara region were stranded overnight in schools. Click HERE for more information from Gray Roots and Museum.

https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in ... ory_Jan_29

1921: A small but intense windstorm resulted in the "Great Olympic Blowdown" in the Pacific Northwest. Hurricane-force winds funneled along the mountains downed vast expanses of Douglas fir trees, and the storm destroyed eight billion board feet of timber. Winds at North Head, WA, gusted to 113 mph. On January 31, 1921, the International News Services reported from Aberdeen, Washington, "It is reported that thousands of dollars in damage was done to buildings and storms in Aberdeen and Hoquiam. The wind velocity was estimated at from 125 to 150 miles an hour. Four steel smokestacks reaching almost 200 feet into the air were the first to collapse before the terrific onslaught of the gale. The giant chimneys crashed down on dwellings crushing them like houses of cardboard." Click HERE for more information from the Office of the Washington State Climatologist.

1947: On this date through the 30th, a fierce winter storm buried southern Wisconsin under two feet of snow. Strong northeasterly winds piled drifts up to 10 feet high in the Milwaukee area, shutting down the city for two days.

https://www.weather.gov/abr/This_Day_in ... ory_Jan_30

1607: The Bristol Channel floods in England resulted in the drowning of many people and the destruction of a large amount of farmland and livestock. Recent research has suggested that the cause may have been a tsunami [not according to the two articles below]. Cardiff was one of the most badly affected towns, with the foundations of St. Mary's Church destroyed.

1607 Bristol Channel Floods: 400-Year Retrospective
The great flood of 1607