Chronology of Extreme Weather

Copyright © 2007-2008 Ken Polsson
internet e-mail: kpolsson@islandnet.com
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URL: http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/weather/

References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2008 June 28.


79-1804 1805-1899 1900-1949 1950-1969 1970-1979 1980-1984 1985-1989 1990-1994 1995-1999 2000-2004
2005-end

1900

April 26
  • Birth of Charles Richter Ohio, Earthquakes seismologist (Richter scale). [1]
September 8
  • 6,000 killed when a hurricane and tidal wave destroys Galveston, Texas, most deadly in US history. [1]

1902

March 10
  • Earthquake destroys Turkish city of Tochangri. [1]
May 7
  • Soufriere volcano on Saint Vincent kills 2-5,000. [1]
May 8
  • Mount Pelée erupts, wipes out Saint Pierre, Martinique, kills 30,000. [1]

1905

February 8
  • Cyclone hit Tahiti and adjacent islands, killing some 10,000 people. [1]
March 6
  • Birth of Bob Wills Kosse Texas; actor (Lone Prairie, Tornado in the Saddle). [1]
April 4
  • Earthquake in Kangra India, kills 370,000. [1]

1906

January 31
  • Strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake, Colombia, 8.6 Richter. [1]
March 6
  • Heavy storm bursts dike flooding Vlissingen, Netherlands. [1]
March 12
  • Heavy storm ravages Dutch west coast. [1]
April 18
  • San Francisco Earthquake (one of the most significant earthquakes of all time) kills over 700 people. [1]
  • San Francisco earthquake and fire kills nearly 4,000 and destroys 75% of the city. [1]

1908

December 28
  • Messina, Italy struck by an earthquake (nearly 80,000 died). [1]

1909

March 4
  • President Taft inaugrated as 27th President during 10" snowstorm. [1]

1910

January 26
  • Heavy rains cause floods in Paris. [1]
March 2
  • Two trains crash in snow storm in Wellington Washington, 118 die. [1]
March 24
  • 83 degrees F highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in March. [1]

1912

June 6
  • Novarupta in Alaska begins erupting, resulting in the second largest volcanic eruption in historic time. [5]

1913

March 21
  • Flood in Ohio, kills 400. [1]
March 25
  • Great Dayton Flood. [1]
March 26
  • Dayton Ohio almost destroyed when Scioto, Miami, and Muskingum River reach flood stage simultaneously. [1]

1915

January 13
  • Earthquake in Avezzano Italy kills 30,000. [1]
August 25
  • Hurricane kills 275 in Galveston, Texas with $50 million damage. [1]
September 29
  • A hurricane claims 275 in the Mississippi Delta. [1]

1916

May 20
  • Codell Kansas hit by tornado (also on same date in 1917 and 1918). [1]
December 13
  • Avalanche kills 10,000 Austrian and Italian troops in 24 hours in Tyrol. [1]

1917

March 23
  • Four-day series of tornadoes kills 211 in Midwest US. [1]
Year
  • Global mean surface temperature at lowest point since 1880, and never again (to at least 2007). [58]

1918

July 22
  • Lightning kills 504 sheep in Utah's Wasatch National Park. [1]

1919

May 1
  • Mount Kelud (Indonesia) erupts, boiling crater lake which broke through crater wall killing 5,000 people in 104 small villages. [1]

May 20
  • Volcano Keluit on Java, erupts killing 550. [1]
September 18
  • Hurricane tides 16 feet above normal drown 280 along Gulf Coast. [1]

1920

April 14
  • Tornadoes killed 219 people in Alabama and Mississippi. [1]
April 20
  • Tornadoes kill 219 in Alabama and Mississippi. [1]
December 16
  • Over 180,000 die when 8.6 earthquake destroys 15,000 square miles (Kansu China). [1]

1921

January 29
  • Hurricane hits Washington and Oregon. [1]

1922

May 24
  • Record temperature in Netherlands for May (35.6 degrees C). [1]

1923

July 10
  • 2-pound hailstones kill 23 and many cattle. (Rostov, Russia). [1]
September 1
  • Earthquake strikes Tokyo and Yokohama, kills 106,000. [1]

1924

June 28
  • Tornado strikes Sandusky Ohio and Lorain Ohio, killing 93. [1]

1925

March 18
  • (8) 60-MPH tornadoes speed through Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee killing 689. [1]
April 24
  • 88 degrees F highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland Ohio in April. [1]
June 23
  • Landslides create 3-mile long "Slide Lake" (Gros Ventre Wyoming). [1]

1926

January 1
  • Flood in Rhine strikes Cologne. [1]
February 17
  • Avalanche buries 75 in Sap Gulch Bingham Utah, 40 die. [1]
September 18
  • Hurricane hits Miami, kills 250. [1]

1927

March 7
  • Earthquake measuring 8 on Richter scale strikes Tango, Japan. [1]
May 22
  • 8.3 earthquake strikes Nan-Shan China, 200,000 killed. [1]
September 29
  • Tornado strikes Saint Louis Missouri. [1]
November 3
  • Tropical storm flooding kills 84 in Winooski River Valley (Vt). [1]
November 17
  • Tornado hit Washington DC. [1]

1928

May 1
  • Six children die and 10 injured by hailstones in Klausenburg, Romania. [1]
July 6
  • World's largest hailstones 1.5 pounds (17 inch diameter) fall in Potter, Nebraska, USA. [1] [5]
September 17
  • Hurricane hits Lake Okeechobee Florida drowning 1,800-2500. [1]

1929

November 18
  • Large earthquake in Atlantic breaks Transatlantic cable in 28 places. [1]

1930

May 13
  • Farmer killed by hail in Lubbock Texas; this is the only known fatality due to hail. [1]
June 13
  • 22 people killed by hailstones in Siatista Greece. [1]
September 3
  • Hurricane kills 2,000, injures 4,000 (Dominican Republic). [1]
September 11
  • Stomboli volcano (Sicily) throws 2-ton basaltic rocks two miles. [1]
November 25
  • 690 earthquake shocks recorded in one day (Ito Japan). [1]

1931

April 1
  • Earthquake devastates Managua Nicaragua, kills 2,000. [1]
May 10
  • Golf ball size hail falls in Burlington New Jersey. [1]

1932

February 9
  • US airship Columbia crashes during storm (Flushing New York). [1]
February 11
  • 73 degrees F highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in February. [1]
June 19
  • Hailstones kill 200 in Hunan Province, China. [1]
November 9
  • Hurricane storm wave sweeps over Santa Cruz del Sur Cuba kills 2,500. [1]
December 16
  • Heavy earthquake ravages Kansu China, 70,000 killed. [1]
December 26
  • Earthquake kills 70,000 in Kansu China. [1]

1933

February 6
  • Highest recorded sea wave (not tsunami), 34 metres (112 feet), in Pacific hurricane near Manila. [1]
March 2
  • Most powerful earthquake in 180 years hit Japan. [1]
March 10
  • Major earthquake in Long Beach California. [1]
November 11
  • "Great Black Blizzard" first great dust storm in the Great Plains. [1]

1934

January 15
  • 8.4 earthquake in India/Nepal, 10,700 die. [1]
May 11
  • Over two days, the most severe dust storm to date in the USA sweeps an estimated 350 million tons of topsoil from the Great Plains across to the eastern seaboard. [129]
May 13
  • Great dustbowl storm. [1]
September 21
  • Typhoon strikes Honshu Island Japan, kills 4,000. [1]

1935

April 14
  • Sandstorm ravages US midwest (Dust Bowl). [1]
April 15
  • Another massive dust storm in the USA becomes known as "Black Sunday". [129]
May 31
  • Quake kills 50,000 in Quetta Pakistan. [1]
September 2
  • A hurricane slams the Florida Keys killing 423. [1]
October 25
  • Hurricane-produced floods kill 2,000 in Jeremie and Jacmel Haiti. [1]

1936

April 5
  • Tupelo Mississippi virtually annihilated by a tornado, 216 die. [1]
April 6
  • Tornado kills 203 and injures 1,800 in Gainesville Georgia. [1]
July 13
  • A Midwestern U.S. heat wave sets the all-time highest temperature records for Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. [1] [5]

1938

March 2
  • Landslides and floods cause over 200 deaths (Los Angeles California). [1]
September 21
  • Hurricane (winds 183 MPH) in New England kills 700. [1]
December 8
  • Highest temperature for December in US recorded in La Mesa California. [1]

1939

January 24
  • 30,000 killed by earthquake in Concepcion Chile. [1]
January 25
  • Earthquake hits Chillán Chile, 10,000 killed. [1]
March 10
  • Seventeen villages damaged by hailstones in Hyderabad India. [1]
May 5
  • Flash floods kill 75 in Northeast Kentucky. [1]
September 8
  • New York Yankees beat Boston Red Sox 4-1 in 7, game called because of lightning. [1]
December 26
  • Earthquake in East Anatolia Turkey. [1]
December 27
  • 8.0 Earthquake in Erzincam Turkey, about 50,000 die. [1]

1940

February 2
  • Birth of Alan "Tea" Caddy rock guitarist (Tornados-Globetrotter). [1]

1941

May 25
  • 5,000 drown in a storm at Ganges Delta region in India. [1]
July 16
  • 100 degrees F (38 degrees C) highest temperature ever recorded in Seattle Washington. [1]

1942

April 27
  • Tornado destroys Pryor Oklahoma killing 100, injuring 300. [1]
June 12
  • Tornado kills 35 in Oklahoma City. [1]
July 17
  • 3' of rain falls on Pennsylvania, flooding kills 15. [1]
September 7
  • Birth of Richard Roundtree actor (Shaft, Earthquake). [1]
October 16
  • Cyclone in Bay of Bengal kills some 40,000 south of Calcutta India. [1]

1943

January 22
  • Temperature rises 49 degrees F (9 degrees C) in two minutes in Spearfish South Dakota. [1]
February 20
  • New volcano Paracutin erupts in farmer's corn patch (México). [1]

1944

June 23
  • Four tornadoes strike Appalachia, killing 153. [1]
December 17
  • US destroyers sink in storm off Philippines, 790 killed. [1]

December 18
  • Destroyers "Hull", "Spence" and "Monaghan" sink in typhoon (Philippines). [1]
Year
  • Global mean surface temperature at peak highest point since accurate measurements in 1880, beginning of gradual decline. [58]

1945

January 3
  • Birth of Victoria Principal Fukuoka Japan, actress (Earthquake, Pamela-Dallas). [1]
November 26
  • During snow storm, school bus crashes, killing 15 (Washington). [1]

1946

April 1
  • Tsunamis generated by an earthquake in Aleutian Trench strike Hilo HI. [1]
December 21
  • Earthquake in South Japan, kills 1,086. [1]

1947

April 9
  • Tornadoes striking West Texas and Oklahoma kill 169, injuring 1,300. [1]
May 5
  • Mississippi Valley flooding kills 16 and causes $850 million in damage. [1]

1948

March 12
  • -5 degrees F lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in March. [1]

1949

July 31
  • Lightning strikes a baseball field in Florida, kills the SS and third baseman. [1]

End of 1900-1949. Next: 1950.
The complete timeline can be purchased in a PDF file for US$10 from the author.

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79-1804 1805-1899 1900-1949 1950-1969 1970-1979 1980-1984 1985-1989 1990-1994 1995-1999 2000-2004
2005-end


A list of references to all source material is available.

Other web pages of interest:

  • Chronology of World History
  • Ken P's Today in History
  • Last updated: 2008 June 28.
    Copyright © 2007-2008 Ken Polsson (email: kpolsson@islandnet.com).
    URL: http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/weather/
    Link to Ken P's home page.


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