September 16 Weather History

...1875... A hurricane stuck Indianola, Texas. 176 lives were lost and 75 percent of the town was swept away from a "disastrous inundation from the bay". The highest wind registered was 88 mph before the anemometer blew away.

...1881... Iowa's earliest measurable snow of record fell over western sections of the state. Four to six inches was reported between Stuart and Avoca.

...1928... Hurricane San Felipe, a monster hurricane, which left 600 dead in Guadeloupe, and 300 dead in Puerto Rico, struck West Palm Beach FL causing enormous damage, and then headed for Lake Okeechobee. When the storm was over, the lake covered an area the size of the state of Delaware, and beneath its waters were 2000 victims. The only survivors were those who reached large hotels for safety, and a group of fifty people who got onto a raft to take their chances out in the middle of the lake.

...1932... Tropical storm # 5 made a direct hit on Nantucket, Massachusetts. Newport, Rhode Island was drenched with 6.26 inches of rain on 16-17th (6.20 inches fell on 16th, third highest daily rainfall at station) and the barometric pressure dipped to 29.28 inches.

...1933... The "Carolina - Virginia Hurricane" hit Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The central pressure was 28.25 inches and the wind speed at Cape Hatteras reached 76 mph. Great wind damage was done in Virginia and Maryland. 21 lives were lost and damage was set at $1 million.

...1964... Concord, New Hampshire hit a low temperature for the day of 27 degrees, thus concluding its shortest growing season on record (100 days).

...1984... The remains of Tropical Storm Edourd began to produce torrential rains in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Port Isabel reported more than 21 inches.

...1987... Overnight rains soaked Arkansas, with 5.25 inches reported at Bismarck. In the town of Malvern, up to four feet of water was reported over several downtown streets, with water entering some homes and businesses. Thunderstorms in Texas drenched Lufkin with 4.30 inches of rain in just three hours. Evening thunderstorms produced severe weather in Missouri. A small tornado near Kirksville lifted a barn thirty feet into the air and then demolished it.

...1988... Hurricane Gilbert moved ashore into Mexico. The hurricane established an all-time record for the western hemisphere with a barometric reading of 26.13 inches. Winds approached 200 mph, with higher gusts. Gilbert devastated Jamaica and the Yucatan Peninsula. (The Weather Channel) Hurricane Gilbert made landfall 120 miles south of Brownsville TX during the early evening. Winds gusted to 61 mph at Brownsville, and reached 82 mph at Padre Island. Six foot tides eroded three to four feet off beaches along the Lower Texas Coast, leaving the waterline seventy-five feet farther inland. Rainfall totals ranged up to 8.71 inches at Lamar TX. Gilbert caused three million dollars damage along the Lower Texas Coast, but less than a million dollars damage along the Middle Texas Coast.

...1989... Showers and thunderstorms, representing what remained of Hurricane Octave, brought locally heavy rains to California, impeding the drying process for raisins and other crops. Sacramento CA was soaked with 1.53 inches of rain in six hours. At Phoenix AZ, the afternoon high of 107 degrees marked a record seventy-six days with afternoon highs 105 degrees or above.

...1991... At Central Park in New York City the temperature hit 90 degrees for the 38th for the year to set a new record for number of 90 degree days in a year. The previous record was 37 days set in 1944

...1999... Hurricane Floyd struck central Long Island New York as a tropical storm. The effects of Floyd were felt at Newport, Rhode Island with a low barometer reading of 29.18 inches, a wind gust of 50 miles per hour and 1.53 inches of rain. (16th-17th)

...2004... Hurricane Ivan made landfall at Gulf Shores, Alabama with winds of 120 mph and a central pressure of 946 millibars. The storm surge reached 14 feet. 15.79 inches of rain feel at Pensacola, Florida. As Ivan moved inland, it spawned a record setting 127 tornadoes across the Southeast and Mid Atlantic. Excessive rains and significant flooding also occurred well inland with 17.00 inches Cruso, North Carolina. Total U.S. damages from the hurricane were $14.2 billion and there were 92 fatalities in the U.S. and Caribbean.

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