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

Last updated: 2009 October 30.

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 At 5:13 a.m., an earthquake estimated at close to 8.0 on the Richter scale strikes San Francisco, California. The quake was caused by a slip of the San Andreas Fault over a segment about 275 miles long. An estimated 3,000 people died from the quake and fires. Almost 30,000 buildings are destroyed, including most of the city's homes and nearly all the central business district. [1] [129] 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] July 10 The highest temperature ever recorded in the United States is at Death Valley, California: 134 F (56.7 C). [1] [5] 1915 January 13 Earthquake in Avezzano Italy kills 30,000. [1] May 22 Lassen Peak erupts, the only mountain other than Mount St. Helens to erupt in the continental U.S. during the 20th century. [5] June 27 100 degrees F (38 degrees C), Fort Yukon, Alaska (state record). [1] August 17 Hurricane kills 275 in Galveston, Texas with $50 million damage. [1] [245.4] 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 and south Florida, destroying hotels, piers, marinas, mansions built in preceding years. 400 killed, 50,000 made homeless. [1] [341.116] 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 ten 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 March 20 Mount Vesuvius, Italy explodes. [1] June 23 Four tornadoes strike Appalachia, killing 153. [1] December 18 US Destroyers Hull, Spence, and Monaghan sink in typhoon off Philippines, 790 killed. [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 in Fukuoka, Japan; actress (Earthquake, Pamela - Dallas). [1] September 16 Barometric pressure at 856mb (25.55 inches) off Okinawa, Japan (record low). [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, Hawaii. [1] June 24 29.77 cm (11.72 inches) of rainfall, Mellen, Wisconsin. (state 24-hour record) [1] December 21 Earthquake in South Japan kills 1,086. [1] 1947 February 3 Anchorage, Alaska, reaches a record low temperature: -38 degrees F. [32.22] 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] July 22 -8 degrees F (-13 degrees C), Charlotte Pass, New South Wales (Australian record). [1] December 26 Heavy snow blankets Northeast USA, buries New York City under 25.8 inches of snow in 16 hours; the same day, Los Angeles sets a record high of 84 degrees F. [1] 1949 July 31 Lightning strikes a baseball field in Florida, kills the shortstop 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. You can pay now directly via PayPal. When I receive notification from PayPal, I will email you the PDF file. or send me an email to request my mailing address to mail payment. 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 This Day in History

Last updated: 2009 October 30. Copyright © 2007-2009 Ken Polsson (email: kpolsson@islandnet.com). URL: http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/weather/ Link to Ken P's home page.