August 24 Weather History

...1873... The "Great Banks Hurricane" did damage along the Massachusetts coastline. 9 Gloucester schooners were lost and 32 were driven ashore by wind and wave. By the time the storm was over 138 men had drowned and 1123 vessels had been wrecked.

...1906... A cloudburst deluged Guinea VA with more than nine inches of rain in just forty minutes.

...1921... Seattle, Washington had its heaviest August rainfall ever with .59 inches falling in one hour.

...1927... Hurricane # 1 passed over Nantucket, Massachusetts as an extra tropical system. Newport, Rhode Island recieved 2.62 inches of rain, breaking the record of 2.00 inches set in 1919 and a barometric pressure reading of 29.56 inches of mercury.

...1957... The low temperature dipped to 46 degrees at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the old record of 52 degrees set in 1952.

...1968... Lightning struck the Crawford County fairgrounds in northwest Pennsylvania killing two persons and injuring 72 others.

...1980... At Newport, Rhode Island the high temperature peaked at 89 degrees, breaking the previous record of 86 degrees set back in 1919, 1947, 1969.

...1986... It was a very windy day at Newport, Rhode Island; the average wind for the day was 14.3 miles per hour, shattering the previous record of 8.9 miles per hour set in 1954 and the wind gusted to 40 miles per hour, breaking the old record of 36 miles per hiour that was set back in 1958. The barometric pressure dropped to 29.45 inches of mercury, breaking the old record of 29.56 inches that was set back in 1927.

...1987... Autumn-like weather prevailed across the north central and northeastern U.S. Seven cities reported record low temperatures for the date, including Saint Cloud MN with a low of 37 degrees. Temperatures in Florida soared to 98 degrees at Pensacola and 99 degrees at Jacksonville. Thunderstorms produced heavy rain in the Southern High Plains Region, with 5.40 inches at Union NM, and 7.25 inches reported west of Anthony NM.

...1988... Thunderstorms in the Delaware Valley of eastern Pennsylvania produced wind gusts to 95 mph around Philadelphia, and gusts to 100 mph at Warminster. A tropical depression drenched the Cabo Rojo area of southwestern Puerto Rico with up to ten inches of rain. San Juan received 5.35 inches of rain.

...1989... Late afternoon and evening thunderstorms produced severe weather in eastern Montana and western sections of the Dakotas. Thunderstorms in Montana produced wind gusts to 76 mph at Jordan, and golf ball size hail at Rock Springs, which collected three to four feet deep in ditches. Lewiston ID reported a record 1.50 inches of rain for the date, and a record rainfall total for August of 2.63 inches.

...1990... Thunderstorms dumped 5 to 7 inches of rain over Long Island, New York. Islip recorded 6.83 inches in about 8 hours. All major highways in Nassau and Suffolk Counties experienced flooding and many sections of the highways had to be closed.

...1991... .78 inches of rain fell in one hour at Newport, Rhode Island, shattering the old record of .27 inches set in 1977 and 1984.  Severe thunderstorms produced very large hail in eastern North Dakota. A cooperative observer near Lisbon reported conglomerate hailstones 6 inches in diameter. The hail smashed windows, caused very heavy damage to cars, punched holes in buildings, and damaged or destroyed 16,000 acres of crops.

...1992... Hurricane Andrew, a tightly wound category 5 storm, made landfall near Homestead, Florida with sustained winds of 165 mph and a central pressure of 922 millibars (27.22 inches). Fowey Rocks coastal marine buoy recorded sustained winds of 141 mph with a peak gust of 169 mph and the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables had sustained winds of 115 mph with a peak gust of 164 mph. A storm surge of 16.9 feet occurred in Biscayne Bay. Homestead Air Force Base was practically wiped out. The WSR-57 radar dome at the Miami National Weather Service Office was destroyed. More than 125,000 homes were damaged or 125,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, leaving 250,000 people homeless. 41 people were killed and the damage estimate exceeded 25 billion dollars, making Andrew by far the most costly hurricane in history. Andrew was the third most intense hurricane on record to strike the U.S. behind Hurricane Camille (1969) and the Labor Day Hurricane (1935).

...2002... Alamosa, Colorado set both high and low temperature records for the day with 85 and 33 degrees, respectively.

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