Chronology of Extreme Weather

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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.


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

1950

July 9
  • 13.15 inches (33.40 cm) of rainfall, York, Nebraska (state 24-hour record). [1]
August 15
  • 8.6 earthquake kills over 1,000 in Assam, India. [1]

1951

February 1
  • -50 degrees F (-46 degrees C), Gavilan, New Mexico, USA (state record). [1]
February 2
  • -35 degrees F (-37 degrees C), Greenburg, Indiana, USA (state record until 1994). [1]
March 14
  • Earthquake at Euskirchen, Germany. [1]
June 23
  • Most expensive US hailstorm (US$1.5 million crop damage and US$14 million property - Kansas). [1]
August 6
  • Typhoon floods kill 4,800 in Manchuria. [1]
August 17
  • Hurricane winds drive six ships ashore, Kingston, Jamaica. [1]
December 4
  • Superheated gases roll down Mount Catarman (Philippines), killing 500. [1]

1952

January 14
  • Snow storm in Sierra Nevada kills 26. [1]
March 15
  • Greatest 24-hour rainfall: 187 cm at La Réunion, Indian Ocean. [1]
March 21
  • Tornadoes in Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama and Kentucky cause 343 deaths. [1]
July 24
  • 112 degrees F (44 degrees C), Louisville, Georgia (state record). [1]
August 15
  • 9 inches of rainfall creates a 20-foot wave in Lynmouth, England, killing 34. [1]
September 24
  • Underwater volcano explodes under research vessel Kaiyo-maru-5. [1]

1953

January 31
  • Hurricane-like winds flood Netherlands drowning nearly 2,000. [1]
March 18
  • Earthquake strikes West Turkey, 250 die. [1]
May 11
  • Tornado kills 114 in Waco, Texas, USA (US$39 million damage). [1]
June 8
  • Cluster of six tornadoes touch down in Flint, Michigan, USA killing 113. [1]
June 9
  • Tornado strikes Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, destroying Assumption College, killing 100. [1]
June 25
  • Anchorage, Alaska, reaches a record high temperatire: 86 degrees F. [1] [32.22]
September 27
  • Typhoon destroys 1/3 of Nagoya, Japan. [1]
December 24
  • Wellington-Auckland (New Zealand) express train swept away in flood kills 166. [1]
December 25
  • Avalanche of lava kills 150 (Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand). [1]

1954

January 9
  • -87 degrees F (-66 degrees C), Northice Station, Greenland (Greenland record). [1]
January 11
  • Two-ton locomotive swept into ravine by avalanche - ten die (Austria). [1]

January 12
  • Austria's worst avalanche-kills 200; nine hours later second one-kills 115. [1]
January 20
  • -70 degrees F (-57 degrees C), Rogers Pass, Montana (state 48 record). [1]
April 1
  • Earthquake/tsunami ravages Aleutians, 200 killed. [1]
June 23
  • 122 degrees F (50 degrees C), Overton, Nevada (state record). [1]
July 14
  • 117 degrees F (47 degrees C), East St. Louis, Illinois (state record). [1]
  • 118 degrees F (48 degrees C), Warsaw and Union, Missouri (state record). [1]
August 31
  • Hurricane Carol (first major named storm) hits New England, 70 die. [1]
September 2
  • Hurricane Edna batters northeast US, killing 20. [1]
September 10
  • Twelve-second earthquake kills 1,460 in Orleansville, Algeria. [1]
September 14
  • Hurricane Edna (second of 1954) hits New York City, causing US$50 million damage. [1]
September 26
  • Typhoon strikes Kakodate Bay, Japan, killing over 1,600. [1]
October 5
  • Hurricane Hazel hits Eastern US. [1]
October 18
  • Hurricane Hazel (third of 1954) becomes most severe to hit US. [1]

1955

April 13
  • 20.33 inches (51.64 cm) of rainfall in Axis, Alabama (state record). [1]
May 18
  • 28.7cm rain falls at Lake Maloya, New Mexico, USA (state record). [1]
July 14
  • Two killed, many dazed when lightning strikes Ascott racetrack, England. [1]
August 3
  • Hurricane Connie begins pounding US for 11 days. [1]
August 17
  • Hurricane Diane, following hurricane Connie floods Connecticut River killing 190 and doing $1.8 billion damage. [1]

1956

January 25
  • 96.5 cm (38 inches) of rainfall, Kilauea Plantation, Hawaii (record). [1]
March 20
  • Mount Bezymianny on Kamchatka Peninsula (USSR) explodes. [1]
May 12
  • East Pakistan is struck by cyclone and tidal waves. [1]
July 4
  • US most intense rain fall (1.23 inches in one minute) at Unionville, Maryland. [1]
October 20
  • 58 degrees F (15 degrees C), Esperanza Station, Antarctica (Antarctic record high). [1]

1957

March 9
  • 8.1 earthquake shakes Andreanof Islands, Alaska, USA. [1]
March 22
  • Earthquake gives San Francisco, California the shakes. [1]
May 24
  • Heavy earthquake strikes Colombia. [1]
June 27
  • 390 die by Hurricane Audrey in coastal Louisiana and Texas, USA. [1]

1958

March 20
  • 50 inches of snow falls across the American Mason-Dixon line. [1]
April 2
  • Wind speed reaches 450 kph in tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas, USA (record). [1]
June 22
  • Game in Kansas City between Athletics and Boston Red Sox delayed 29 minutes due to tornado. [1]
July 10
  • The highest tsunami wave ever recorded is at Lituya Bay, Alaska, at 524m high. [5]

1959

January 9
  • Dam across Tera River collapses after heavy winter rains, 135 die. [1]
February 10
  • Tornado in Saint Louis kills 19 and injures 265. [1]
August 17
  • Quake Lake is formed in Yellowstone National Park in Montana by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. [1] [5]
September 17
  • Typhoon kills 2,000 in Japan and Korea. [1]
September 27
  • Typhoon Vera hits Japanese island of Honshu, kills nearly 5,000. [1]
October 27
  • Rare Pacific hurricane kills 2,000 in Western Mexico. [1]
November 14
  • Kilauea's most spectacular eruption (in Hawaii). [1]
December 16
  • Snow falling in Lowarai Pass, West Pakistan, kills 48. [1]

1960

February 29
  • Earthquake kills 1/3 of Agadir, Morocco, population (12,000) in 15 seconds. [1]
April 24
  • Heavy earthquake strikes South Persia, 500 killed. [1]
May 22
  • Virtually all coastal towns between 37th and 44th parallels severely damaged by tsunami that strikes Hilo, Hawaii, USA. [1]
June 28
  • 26.42 cm (10.40 inches) of rainfall in Dunmor, Kentucky, USA (state 24-hour record). [1]
August 24
  • A world-record low temperature (-88 degrees Celsuis, -127 degrees Fahrenheit) is measured in Vostok, Antarctica. [1] [5]

1961

January 2
  • Hawaii's all-time low temperature, 14 degrees F recorded atop Haleakale. [1]
February 3
  • Sixth largest snowfall in New York City history (17.4 inches (44.2cm)). [1]
March 13
  • Landslide in USSR kills 145. [1]
June 14
  • 106 degrees F, hottest temperature in San Francisco, California. [1]
August 5
  • 118 degrees F (48 degrees C), Ice Harbor Dam, Washington (state record). [1]
September 15
  • Hurricane Carla strikes Texas with winds of 175 mph. [1]
October 1
  • A believed-extinct volcano erupts in Tristan da Cunha. [1]
October 9
  • Volcano eruptions on Tristan de Cunha (South Atlantic). [1]

1962

January 10
  • Eruptions on Mount Huascaran in Peru destroy seven villages and kill 3,500. [1]
January 21
  • Snow falls in San Francisco, California. [1]
February 17
  • Storm in Hamburg, Germany, kills 265. [1]
September 1
  • 10,000 die in an earthquake in western Iran. [1]

1963

January 28
  • -34 degrees F (-37 degrees C) in Cynthiana, Kentucky, USA (state record). [1]
March 17
  • Eruptions of Mount Agung Bali, kills 1,500 Balinese. [1]
May 28
  • Cyclone hits Chittagong, Bangladesh; estimated 22,000 die and one million houses destroyed. [1]
September 9
  • Landslide into Vaiont Dam empties lake, kills 3-4,000 (Italy). [1]
October 7
  • Hurricane Flora hits Haiti and Dominican Republic, kills 7,190. [1]
December 8
  • Three fuel tanks explode when jetliner is struck by lightning, crashing near Elkton Maryland; only case of lightning-caused crash, 81 die. [1]
December 18
  • Muskegon, Michigan, USA gets 3 feet of snow. [1]

1964

March 27
  • Earthquake strikes Anchorage, Alaska, USA, 9.2 on Richter scale, 131 die from earthquake and resulting tsunami; this is the most violent eathquake in US history. [1]
June 16
  • Earthquake strikes Niigata, Japan. [1]
September 12
  • Typhoon Gloria strikes Taiwan killing 330, causing $17.5 million damage. [1]
December 23
  • India and Ceylon hit by cyclone, about 4,850 killed. [1]
Year
  • Global mean surface temperature at lowest point since 1929. [58]

1965

February 18
  • 27 copper miners die in avalanche, Granduc Mountain, British Columbia, Canada. [1]
April 11
  • 40 tornadoes strike US midwest killing 272 and injuring 5,000. [1]
April 29
  • Earthquake hits Seattle, Washington, USA; five die. [1]
May 11
  • First of two cyclones in less than a month kills 35,000 in India. [1]
June 2
  • Second of two cyclones in less than a month kills 35,000 (Ganges River, India). [1]
June 17
  • 28.14 cm (11.08 inches) of rainfall, Holly, Colorado (state 24-hour record). [1]
July 20
  • 46.18 cm (18.18 inches) of rainfall, Edgarton, Missouri (state 24-hour record). [1]
September 12
  • Hurricane Betsy strikes Florida and Louisiana; kills 75. [1]

September 28
  • Lava flows kill at least 350 (Taal, Phillipines). [1]
December 15
  • Third cyclone of year kills another 10,000 at mouth of Ganges River, Bangladesh. [1]

1966

January 11
  • 550 die in landslides in mountains behind Rio de Janeiro after rain. [1]
January 29
  • Snow storm in north-east US kills 165. [1]
January 30
  • -19 degrees F (-28 degrees C) in Corinth, Mississippi (state record). [1]
  • -27 degrees F (-33 degrees C) in New Market, Alabama (state record). [1]
March 3
  • Tornado hits Jackson, Mississippi; 3 minutes after first sighting, 57 die. [1]
May 10
  • 25 degrees F, lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland, Ohio in May. [1]
July 12
  • 26.70 cm (10.51 inches) of rainfall in Sandusky, Ohio (state record). [1]
September 21
  • 5 inches of rain falls on New York City. [1]
November 4
  • Flooding of Arno River (Italy) destroys countless art works. [1]
November 24
  • 400 die of respiratory failure and heart attack in killer New York City smog. [1]

1967

January 14
  • Earthquake in Sicily kills 231. [1]
February 1
  • Severe brush fires in Tasmania destroy $11 million and 60 lives. [1]
July 29
  • Moderate earthquake (6.5) strikes Caracas, Venezuela causing severe damage. [1]
September 4
  • 6.5 earthquake of Kolya Dam, India, kills 200. [1]
September 20
  • Hurricane Beulah hits Texas-Mexican border, kills 38. [1]
December 11
  • 6.5 earthquake in West India, 170 killed. [1]

1968

January 31
  • Record high barometric pressure (1083.8 mb, 32 inches), at Agata, USSR. [1]
May 15
  • A tornado strikes Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA, at 10 PM, killing 36. [1]
May 16
  • Earthquake kills 47 in Japan. [1]
July 9
  • 39.83cm (15.68 inches) of rainfall, Columbus, Mississippi (state 24-hour record). [1]
July 29
  • Mount Arenal, Costa Rica kills 80 in Pelee-type eruption. [1]
August 31
  • 6,000 die in 7.8 earthquake which destroys 60,000 buildings in northeast Iran. [1]
December 30
  • -48 degrees F (-44 degrees C), Mazama and Winthrop Washington (state record). [1]

1969

April 14
  • Tornado strikes Dacca, East Pakistan, killing 540. [1]
April 23
  • Over 1000 square miles flooded in Shantung Province, China. [1]
August 22
  • Hurricane Camille strikes U.S. Gulf Coast; kills 255. [1]
December 8
  • Greek DC-6B crashes in storm at Athens, Greece; 93 killed. [1]

End of 1950-1969. Next: 1970.
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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
  • 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/
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