Subj : Today's Weather History To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Mon Feb 20 2017 08:42 am TODAY Version 3.7 06/24/94 Copyright 1986, 1994 By Patrick Kincaid Today is Monday February 20, 2017. This is the 51st day of the year, there are 314 days left. On this day... Weather data after 1990 is PARTIAL. For more current weather history, go to the National Climate Data Center website at www.ncdc.noaa.gov In 1805 The Potomac River was opened after being closed by ice for two months. In 1898 Eastern Wisconsin experienced their biggest snowstorm of record. Racine received thirty inches, and drifts around Milwaukee measured fifteen feet high. In 1953 A snowstorm in Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota produced drifts ten feet high which derailed trains. In 1985 A lightning strike in St. George, Kansas was so bright, students at a school 2 blocks away thought lights had been turned on and off. In 1987 A storm system over Arizona spread heavy snow from the Southern Rockies into the Southern Plains Region. Thunderstorms in central Texas produced golf ball size hail about the same time north central Texas was being blanketed with up to 8 inches of snow, closing many schools. In 1988 Snow and strong northerly winds ushered arctic air into the Great Lakes Region. The temperature at Sault Ste Marie MI plunged from 30 degrees at 5 AM to one below zero by 3 PM, with a wind chill reading of 40 degrees below zero. Five cities in Florida reported record high temperatures for the date. The high of 90 degrees at Lakeland was just a degree shy of their February record. In 1989 Thunderstorms developing during the early afternoon produced severe weather from eastern Texas to Alabama and northwest Florida. Thunderstorms spawned a dozen tornadoes during the afternoon and evening. Thunder- storms also produced 90 mph winds around Vicksburg MS, and 100 mph winds around Jackson MS. In 1990 Heavy snow spread into southwestern Kansas and the panhandle region of Oklahoma and Texas. Heavier snowfall totals included 12 inches at Boise City OK, 11 inches at Liberal KS, and 10 inches at Spearman TX. Blowing and drifting snow closed roads in the Oklahoma panhandle. In 2013 (20th-23rd) A major winter storm provided a wide variety of weather from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast. Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, north Oklahoma, and north Missouri...east into the Ohio Valley, were dealing with heavy snow. Central and south Oklahoma, south Missouri, north and central Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee...were dealing with an ice storm. South Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas, dealt with severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. In Arkansas (on the 21st), widespread quarter to half ice accumulations were in the northern two to three rows of counties. Parts of the northeast had more than a half inch of ice, including Batesville (Independence County). While there were thousands of power outages, this did not come close to the devastation caused by the Ice Storm of January, 2009. Freezing rain was accompanied by thunder in many cases. Some storms in the southern half of the state became severe, with quarter to half dollar size hail in East Camden (Ouachita County), near Pinebergen (Jefferson County) and in southwest Little Rock (Pulaski County). On the 20th, while there was some light freezing rain in places, snow made headlines in the west. Up to 4 inches of snow piled up at Fort Smith (Sebastian County) and near Alma (Crawford County). Two to three inch amounts were common around Clarksville (Johnson County) and Paris (Logan County). In the wake of the storm, roads were generally in pretty good shape. Warm ground temperatures kept roads mostly wet. However, bridges and overpasses were icy where readings were subfreezing. Also with the storms, lightning struck a church in Arkadelphia (Clark County), destroying the steeple, and damaging the roof...and lightning also struck a home near Hot Springs (Garland County). The storm moved into the northeast U.S. on the 23rd, bringing snow to areas hit by earlier blizzards, and from Hurricane Sandy in September, 2012. In 2015 Heavy snow that began in late January, continued at Boston, Massachusetts, with an unprecedented 88.1 inches of snow in less than a month (26 days). This took the seasonal total to 98.7 inches, making it the second snowiest on record behind the 107.6 inches of snow in the winter of 1995/1996. Dozens of roofs collapsed under the weight of the snow. In 2016 The most powerful storm on record in the Southern Hemisphere slammed into the island of Fiji, with 184 mph category 5 typhoon winds. Widespread flooding and damaging winds battered much of the island. Posted by VPost v1.7.081019 .