March 12 Weather History

...1888... A blizzard paralyzed southeastern New York State and western New England. The storm produced 58 inches of snow at Saratoga NY, and 50 inches at Middletown CT. The blizzard was followed by record cold temperatures, and the cold and snow claimed 400 lives. New York City received 20.9 inches of snow, Albany NY reported 46.7 inches.

...1900... The low temperature at Newport, Rhode Island was 9 degrees, breaking the record of 23 degrees, set in 1896.

...1923... The record low pressure of 28.70 inches for Chicago, Illinois was set during a winter storm. Heavy snow, a thick glaze, gales, and much rain caused $800,000 damage.

...1939... 7.6 inches of snow fell at Newport, Rhode Island on this day, breaking the record of 5.2 inches set in 1924.

...1941... The snow depth at Newport, Rhode Island measured 12 inches, breaking the record of 7 inches set in 1934.

...1954... A blizzard raged from eastern Wyoming into the Black Hills of western South Dakota, while a severe ice storm was in progress from northeastern Nebraska to central Iowa. The ice storm isolated 153 towns in Iowa. Dust from the Great Plains caused brown snow, and hail and muddy rain over parts of Wisconsin and Michigan. (11th-13th)

...1967... A tremendous four day storm raged across California. Winds of 90 mph closed mountain passes, heavy rains flooded the lowlands, and in sixty hours Squaw Valley CA was buried under 96 inches (eight feet) of snow.

...1973... The temperature at Newport, Rhode Island peaked at 65 degrees, breaking the previous record of 57 degrees, set back in 1929 and 1908.

...1983... The barometric pressure bottomed out at 28.90 inches at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the record of 28.92 set back in 1959.

...1987... Unseasonably cold weather prevailed in the southeastern U.S., with gale force winds along the Middle Atlantic Coast. A storm in the Pacific Northwest produced rain and gale force winds. Crescent City CA received 2.27 inches of rain in 24 hours.

...1988... A powerful storm produced high winds and heavy snow in the Upper Mississippi Valley and the Upper Great Lakes Region. Winds gusting to 70 mph produced snow drifts six feet high in Minnesota, and sent twelve foot waves on Lake Superior over the break walls of the ship canal at Duluth MN.

...1989... An early season heat wave continued in the southwestern and central U.S. Nineteen cities reported record high temperatures for the date. Wichita Falls TX, which six days earlier reported a record low of 8 above, reported a record high of 95 degrees. Childress TX was the first spot in the country in 1989 to hit the century mark.

...1990... Unseasonably warm weather prevailed from the Southern and Central Plains to the Southern and Middle Atlantic Coast, with afternoon highs in the 70s and 80s. Seventy-six cities reported record high temperatures for the date. Downtown Baltimore MD was the hot spot in the nation with a record high of 95 degrees, which smashed their previous record for the date by nineteen degrees. Other record highs included 89 degrees at Washington D.C. and 90 degrees at Raleigh NC.

...1993... What was to become the "Great Blizzard of '93" began to develop as a huge mesoscale convective complex formed in the western Gulf of Mexico. As the low pressure area moved eastward and intensified, howling north winds exceeding hurricane force behind the storm were reported by platforms in the Gulf. One platform near 28.5N/92.5W recorded sustained winds of 85 mph with gusts to 99 mph. As the low crossed the coast around midnight near Panama City, Florida, the central pressure was already down to 980 millibars (28.94 inches). During the late evening into the early morning hours of the 13th, a vicious squall line swept through Florida and spawned 11 tornadoes resulting in 5 fatalities. Thunderstorm winds gusted to 110 mph at Alligator Point and 109 mph at Dry Tortugas. Extremely high tides occurred along the western Florida coast. A 13 foot storm surge occurred in Taylor County, Florida, resulting in 10 deaths with 57 residences destroyed. A 5 to 8 foot storm surge moved ashore in Dixie County. Over 500 homes were destroyed with major damage to another 700 structures.

...2006... High school senior Matt Suter survives being blown 1,307 feet by a tornado. (The exact distance is determined by NWS GPS.) The twister rips open his grandmother's mobile home and tosses Suter into the night, launching him over a barbed wire fence and eventually depositing him on the soft grass in an open field. He suffers only a head wound from being hit by a lamp.

...2008... 8 inches of snow on this day brought the seasonal snowfall total at Green Bay, Wisconsin to 80.3 inches -- the city's snowiest winter on record

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