This Date in Weather History for October 3,2012

Here's the tidbits for "This Date in Weather History",for Wednesday,October 3,2012,from examiner.com/ weather-history,enjoy:










1780
The hurricane season of 1780 was one of the worst in recorded history. At least 8 destructive storms struck American and Caribbean shores that year. In October, three storms in three successive weeks caused unparalleled economic and military destruction. The first, named the Savanna-La-Mer hurricane for the tiny settlement on the island of Jamaica which was completely destroyed by the storm's tides and winds, struck on this date.
1841
The "October Gale" hit southern New England. It was the worst ever to hit Nantucket. The storm raised havoc with the Cape Cod fishing fleet with 40 ships being washed ashore on Cape Cod and 57 men were lost from the town of Truro, MA alone. The storm caused heavy snow inland, with 18 inches at Middletown, CT and 3 inches at Concord, MA.
1869
Saxby's Gale, so named because it was predicted almost a year in advance by a British officer named Saxby, struck the Bay of Fundy. The heavy rainfall accompanying the storm caused a tremendous flood in a 6-state area.
1903
An F4 tornado moved northeast from west of Chatfield, MN, passing through and devastating St. Charles, MN. Seven people were killed and 30 injured as 50 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed. Homes were also swept away in parts of Wisconsin, along Eagle Creek and then at Independence, where two people died and half of the town were torn apart. Damage for both states totaled $400,000 dollars. About two hours later, another F4 tornado apparently formed about 5 miles east of Rome and then moved east-northeast passing 1.5 miles south of Bancroft in Portage County. The tornado was up to a half mile wide but most of the damage was in Portage County.
1912
Bagdad, CA started an amazing streak of 767 consecutive days of no rain that would last until November, 1914. This remains a U.S. record.
1963
Hurricane Flora, one of the deadliest hurricanes on record in the Atlantic Basin, battered Haiti with sustained winds around 150 mph. The storm moved northwestward, meandered over western Cuba from the 4th to the 8th, and then finally accelerated northeastward out to sea. 5,000 people were killed on Haiti with damage severe to complete. Enormous amounts of rain fell in Cuba due to Flora's slow movement. 90 inches of rain deluged Bayamo. Crops were totally destroyed. A total of 7,200 people were killed by Flora and damage was set at $435 million dollars.
1964
Hurricane Hilda struck the central Louisiana coast during the evening hours. Fortunately, the storm had weakened from peak intensity of 150 mph and a minimum pressure of 941 millibars or 27.79 inHg achieved on October 1st, when the storm was 350 miles south of New Orleans, LA. Hilda crossed the coastline with a pressure of 950 millibars or 28.05 inHg and produced sustained winds of 120 mph at Franklin, LA with gusts to 135 mph. A large water tower fell on the City Hall at Erath, LA where the civil defense headquarters was located. Several tornadoes occurred in the feeder bands crossing southeastern Louisiana. An F4 tornado cut a short 2 mile path through Larose, LA. The path may have been short but the tornado killed 22 people and injured 165 people. Usually, hurricane-spawned tornadoes are not nearly this strong. Overall, 38 people were killed in Louisiana and total damage was $125 million dollars.


1966

Late on this date Hurricane Inez began moving southwestward from a position about 100 miles east of Miami, FL. The eye of Inez moved from Key Largo to Key West on the 4th. The highest wind reported on the Florida mainland was a gust to 80 mph at Homestead AFB. There were no sustained winds of hurricane force on the mainland. All of the Keys reported winds of hurricane force ranging up to 100-125 mph in gusts. Rainfall totals were between 2-4 inches over the southeast portion of the peninsula and in the Keys. Three people were killed and 11 more were injured. Over $5 million dollars in damage resulted.
1970
The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration was formed and the U.S. Weather Bureau became the National Weather Service.
1978
Downtown Calgary, Alberta Canada was blasted with 71 mph wind gusts forcing construction workers to jump from scaffolds.
1979
Without any severe weather watches or warnings, an F4 tornado ripped through Windsor Locks, CT. The Bradley Air Museum was hit with 16 vintage aircraft totally destroyed. The tornado passed 1 mile east of the National Weather Service office at Bradley International airport with a wind gust of 86 mph recorded at the office. Three people were killed, 500 others were injured and damage was estimated at $200 million dollars.
1980
More heat across the west from a heat ridge resulted in more record high temperatures. Record highs for October included: Borrego Springs, CA: 113° (tied the previous day), Victorville, CA: 101° (tied two days later) and Stockton, CA: 101° (tied the previous day and the day after).
Other daily record highs included: Fresno, CA: 101°, Las Vegas, NV: 99°, Sacramento, CA: 98°, Bishop, CA: 96°, San Francisco (Airport), CA: 91°, Idyllwild, CA: 90°, Reno, NV: 90°, Elko, NV: 88°-Tied, Winnemucca, NV: 88°-Tied, Ely, NV: 83° and Olympia, WA: 82.
1983
A prolonged very heavy rain event, starting back on September 29th, finally came to an end over the eastern two-thirds of Arizona as rainfall totals ranged from 2 to 12 inches courtesy of moisture from the remains of Tropical Storm Octave. The result was the most destructive flooding ever in Arizona. 13 people were killed and 1,300 homes were destroyed. Damage was estimated at $178 million dollars.
1986
The remnants of Hurricane Paine deluged Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas with 6 to 10 inches of rain during the overnight hours. Hardy, OK recorded 21.79 inches. Heavy rain between September 26th and October 4th caused $350 million dollars damage in Oklahoma
1987
Many cities in the Upper Midwest reported record low temperatures for the date including: Duluth MN: 24°, Eau Claire WI: 24°, Spencer IA: 24°, Sioux Falls, SD: 25°, Waterloo, IA: 26°, Dubuque, IA: 27°, Lincoln, NE: 27°, Norfolk, NE: 27°, Sioux City, IA: 28°, Springfield, MO: 30°, Kansas City, MO: 31°, Columbia, MO: 32°, Fort Smith, AR: 35°, Concordia, KS: 35°, Wichita, KS: 37°-Tied, Tulsa, OK: 39°, Midland-Odessa, TX: 39° and Wichita Falls, TX: 42°.
Temperatures warmed into the 80s in the Northern and Central Plains. At Chadron NE, the mercury soared from a morning low of 29° to an afternoon high of 88°. Record highs were reported from parts of the northern Plains to California where temperatures soared above 100°. The high of 108° at Downtown Los Angeles was a record for October.
Other daily record highs included: El Cajon, CA: 109°, Chula Vista, CA: 106°, Fallbrook, CA: 106°, Santee, CA: 106°, Riverside, CA: 105°, Long Beach, CA: 105°, San Diego, CA: 104°, Escondido, CA: 102°, Santa Ana, CA: 102°, Redding, CA: 99°, Sacramento, CA: 99°, Las Vegas, NV: 99°-Tied, Valentine, MT: 91°, Grass Range, MT: 90°, Glasgow, MT: 90°-Tied, Winnemucca, NV: 88°-Tied, Bismarck, ND: 87°-Tied, Sheridan, WY: 86°-Tied, Bozeman, MT: 84° and Casper, WY: 82°.
1988
Cold Canadian air invaded the north central U.S. bringing an end to the growing season while unseasonably warm weather prevailed in the southwestern U.S. Record high temperatures for the date included: Phoenix AZ: 105°, Winnemucca, NV: 88°-Tied and Yakima, WA: 84°.
Nearly 8 inches of rain fell in 3 hours at Nimes, France, causing floods and mudslides that resulted in 8 deaths.
1989
Unseasonably cold weather prevailed from the northern tier to the Upper Mississippi Valley. Many cities reported record low temperatures for the date, including Grand Forks, ND: 15, Bismarck, ND: 16°, Williston, ND: 16°, St. Cloud, MN: 21° and Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN: 26°. An upper level weather disturbance brought snow to parts of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, with 5 inches reported at West Yellowstone, MT.
1992


A strong tropical disturbance in the eastern Gulf of Mexico spawned 10 tornadoes from the Tampa Bay area to Ocala, killing four people and injuring 77 others. Hardest hit was Pinellas County where all the deaths occurred. Other tornadoes were reported in Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando, Marion, Citrus and Levy Counties without serious injury. Heavy rain caused moderate to heavy flooding in northeast Florida, especially the Jacksonville area where 8.69 inches fell. Brunswick, GA was deluged with 10.14 inches in 24 hours. Strong winds and a long fetch pushed tides 4 to 5 feet above normal along the west coast of Florida. Major beach erosion occurred at Egmont Key and all along the coast of Hillsborough County. Total damage was estimated at $32 million dollars.

1995
The usual army of media abandoned the National Hurricane Center in order to cover the verdict in the O.J. Simpson trial, just as Hurricane Opal was gathered strength in the Gulf of Mexico and lunged toward the coast. Many people did not hear the late evening evacuation orders as the storm exploded to near Category 5 strength and doubled its forward motion, a worst case scenario for forecasters.
1997
Early October heat prevailed across the upper Midwest. The following locations recorded their warmest October temperature: Guttenberg, IA: 94°, Oelwein, IA: 94°, La Crosse, WI: 93° (tied with 10/6/1963 for warmest October day), Rochester, MN: 93°, Austin, MN: 92° and Lynxville, WI: 92°.
1999
An early October cold snap drives the temperatures down to a frigid 17° at Dauphin, Manitoba Canada and 17° at Gimli, both new records for the date. Dauphin's temperature will rebound by afternoon to 45°, the province’s hot spot for the day.
Elkader, IA recorded their earliest measurable snowfall with a half an inch.
2000
A small area of very strong thunderstorms developed in west central Illinois during the early evening hours, and moved into north central Illinois. A predominate gust front developed ahead of these storms, which brought considerable winds across La Salle County. Winds were estimated near 90 mph, maintaining that strength as the gust front moved across the county. Near Oglesby, a semi-tractor trailer was overturned and several secondary roads leading to Starved Rock State Park were closed due to downed trees and power lines.
2002
Residents along the Louisiana coast had braced for the worst storm in decades in their area, but breathed a sigh of relief when Hurricane Lili weakened considerably from a Category 4 to Category 2 storm in the hours just before landfall. Residents of the small Terrebonne Parish town of Montegut had their homes flooded when a protection levee failed. Although damages totaled $335 million dollars, no fatalities were reported as a direct result of the storm. Lili had killed 8 people the week before crossing the Caribbean.
Lili became the first hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Irene on 10/15/1999. The longest streak ever was between Hurricane Allen which made landfall on 8/10/1980 and Hurricane Alicia, which struck the Houston area on 8/18/1983, a streak of a little over 3 years.
2006
Parts of the Missouri Valley and Central Plains baked in early October heat. Dodge City, KS set their all-time October record high of 98°.
Several cities tied or set record high temperatures including: Topeka, KS: 96°, Wichita, KS: 96°, Kansas City, MO: 95°, Moline, IL: 95°, Burlington, IA 95°, St. Louis, MO: 94°, Columbia, MO: 94°-Tied, Peoria, IL: 93°, Springfield, IL hit 93°-Tied and Springfield, MO: 91°-Tied.
2007
Typhoon Lekima made landfall in Vietnam with maximum sustained winds near 75 mph. Its torrential rain and high winds triggered landslides, flooded thousands of homes, and destroyed vast areas of rice fields. The typhoon was responsible for 86 deaths. Vietnam suffered its worst flooding in 45 years.