This Date in Weather History for October 23,2012

Here's the tidbits for "This Date in Weather History",for Tuesday,October 23,2012,from examiner.com/weather-history,enjoy:






1091
The earliest known tornado in Britain, possibly the most severe on record, hit central London. The church at St. Mary le Bow was badly damaged. Four rafters, each 26 feet long were driven into the ground with such force that only four feet protruded above the surface. Other churches in the area were also demolished along with over 600 houses.
1761
A hurricane struck southeast New England, labeled as the "most violent in 30 years". Thousands of trees were uprooted in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, blocking roads.
1843
"Indian Summer" was routed by cold and snow from the Poconos to Vermont. Albany, NY picked up 4 inches of snow, 6 inches fell at Burlington, VT and 12 inches fell at Haverhill, NH and Newberry, VT. 18 to 24 inches was reported in some of the higher elevations. Snow stayed on the ground until the next spring.
1878
A major hurricane that formed in the Caribbean Sea moved north over western Cuba and smashed into the North Carolina coast. The storm moved north into eastern Pennsylvania, then curved sharply east and moved through central New England. It retained hurricane strength into southeast New York.
The hurricane caused great damage around Wilmington, NC, on the Chesapeake Bay,
and around Philadelphia. Across the upper Delaware Bay, a "tidal wave" wiped out much of the resort hotels and outbuildings, and caused major shoreline changes at Collins Beach, Bombay Hook and Woodland Beach, resulting in the demise of these areas as a major summer resort for visitors from Wilmington, DE and Philadelphia, PA. Cape May measured a wind gust to 110 mph, and Philadelphia, PA gusted to 85 mph. Philadelphia, PA recorded a maximum 1-minute wind speed of 75 mph.
1918
The Canadian steamship “Princess Sophia” carrying miners from the Yukon and Alaska became stranded on Vanderbilt Reef along the coast of Alaska. A strong northerly gale hampered rescue attempts, and the next day, the ship sank killing the 268 passengers and 75 crewmen on board.
1920
Famed research meteorologist Thoedore Fujita, was born on this date in Kitakyushu City, Japan. Fujita, known as "Mr. Tornado" after developing the international standard for measuring tornado severity, also discovered microbursts.
1923
A tropical storm that formed in the Caribbean Sea moved north, making landfall along the Delmarva then moved north-northwest across eastern Pennsylvania and into western New York. The slow moving storm brought two days of heavy rain to the region. The highest wind gusts were Atlantic City, NJ: 88 mph and Cape May, NJ: 66 mph.
1947
Fish fell from the sky in Marksville, LA. Thousands of fish fell from the sky in an area 1,000 feet long by 80 feet wide possibly due to a waterspout.
1963
Most of the country east of the Plains enjoyed mild to warm autumn temperatures with some record heat courtesy of a ridge. Lansing, MI reached 80° or higher on five consecutive days from the 22nd to the 26th. On this date, Lansing hit 84°. Other daily record highs included: Evansville, IN: 88°, Indianapolis, IN: 86°, Chicago, IL: 85°, Moline, IL: 85°, Springfield, IL: 85°, Fort Wayne, IN: 85°, Lexington, KY: 84°, Milwaukee, WI: 84°-Tied, Rockford, IL: 83°, South Bend, IN: 83°, Alpena, MI: 83°, Detroit, MI: 83°, Flint, MI: 83°, Grand Rapids, MI: 83°, Marquette, MI: 83°, Toledo, OH: 83°, Valentine, NE: 83°-Tied, Madison, WI: 81°, Houghton Lake, MI: 81°, Bristol, TN: 81°, Fargo, ND: 80°, Aberdeen, SD: 80°, Rapid City, SD: 80°, Muskegon, MI: 80°, Cleveland, OH: 80°, Erie, PA: 79°, Grand Forks, ND: 78°, Duluth, MN: 78°, International Falls, MN: 78°, Mansfield, OH: 78°-Tied, Rochester, MN: 77° and Ste. St. Marie, MI: 77°.
1987
Many cities in the southeastern U.S. reported record low temperatures for the date. It marked the 6th record low of the month for Greer and Columbia, SC tying at 27° and the 9th of the month for Montgomery, AL with 34°. Other daily record lows included: Asheville, NC: 24°, Roanoke, VA: 26°-Tied, Macon, GA: 28°, Bristol, TN: 28°-Tied, Augusta, GA: 28°-Tied, Greenville-Spartanburg, SC: 29°, Raleigh, NC: 29°, Greensboro, NC: 29°-Tied, Knoxville, TN: 30°, Athens, GA: 31°, Charlotte, NC: 32°-Tied, Norfolk, VA: 34° and Columbus, GA: 36°.
Showers and thunderstorms deluged Corpus Christi, TX with 5 inches of rain. Winnemucca, NV reported their first measurable rain in 92 days, while Yakima, WA reported a record 96 days in a row without measurable rainfall.
1988
Denver, CO reported their first freeze of the autumn, and Chicago, IL reported their first snow.
A ridge of high pressure brought record heat extending from parts of Texas westward to the west coast. Record highs for the date included: Austin (Mabry), TX: 93°, San Antonio, TX: 93°, Austin (Bergstrom), TX: 91°, Houston, TX: 91°, Corpus Christi, TX: 90°, Redding, CA: 88°, Ely, NV: 75°, Flagstaff, AZ: 74°, and Yakima, WA: 70°-Tied.
1989
A storm moving out of the Gulf of Alaska brought rain and high winds to the Central Pacific Coast. Heavy rains were reported in northern California and heavy snows to the area around Lake Tahoe. 21 inches fell at Donner Summit with 3 feet of snow in the mountains near Lake Tahoe. High winds in Nevada gusted to 67 mph at Reno, and thunderstorms around Redding, CA produced wind gusts to 66 mph. Locally heavy rains in the San Francisco area caused numerous mudslides, adding insult to injury for earthquake victims.
2000
Beginning on the 22nd through this date extensive flooding occurred in and around Chickasha, OK when as much as 10 inches of rain fell across Caddo and Grady Counties. Portions of downtown Chickasha were under at least 5 feet of water. Approximately 30 people were rescued from the roof of cars and homes and as many as 400 people were evacuated from their homes. Damages approached $1.5 million dollars.
2003
An unseasonably strong 588 decameter heat ridge extended from the Plains to the west coast bringing record heat. Phoenix, AZ set a record high and also broke the record for the latest date for a triple-digit temperature as the temperature soared to 100°. Other daily record highs included: Palm Springs, CA: 104°, Borrego Springs, CA: 104°, Victorville, CA: 96°, Austin (Mabry), TX: 94°, Wichita Falls, TX: 92°, Pueblo, CO: 92°, Austin (Bergstrom), TX: 92°-Tied, Lubbock, TX: 91°, Amarillo, TX: 90°, Roswell, NM: 90°, Dodge City, KS: 89°, Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX: 89°, Clayton, NM: 89°, Oklahoma City, OK: 89°-Tied, Waco, TX: 89°-Tied, Goodland, KS: 88°, Scottsbluff, NE: 87°, Winslow, AZ: 84°, Colorado Springs, CO: 83°, Casper, WY: 81°, Albuquerque, NM: 80°-Tied, Cheyenne, WY: 79°, Lander, WY: 76°, Big Bear Lake, CA: 74° and Alamosa, CO: 74°.
2005
Hurricane Wilma produced high winds pushing a high storm surge that breached a wide stretch of Havana, Cuba's seawall flooding area neighborhoods, spreading up to four blocks inland.
Lost in the focus and concern over Hurricane Wilma, Tropical Storm Alpha dumped heavy rains on Hispaniola leaving at least 12 people dead with 23 missing in Haiti and 3 in the Dominican Republic. Flooding and mudslides damaged or destroyed at least 400 homes in Haiti.
2007
A bright sunny day helps Victoria, British Columbia Canada shatter a 40-year-old high temperature record when the mercury hit 68°.