September 23 Weather History

...1815... One of the greatest hurricanes to strike New England made landfall at Long Island and crossed Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It was the worst tempest in nearly two hundred years, equal to the hurricane which struck in 1938, and one of a series of severe summer and autumn storms to affect shipping lanes that year.

...1904... The temperature at Charlotteburg NJ dipped to 23 degrees, the coldest reading of record for so early in the autumn for the state; Newport, Rhode Island recorded a low 35 degrees

...1964... The remnants of Hurricane Gladys brushed Newport, Rhode Island with a low barometer of 29.47 and .77 inches of rain.

...1975.. Hurricane Eloise made landfall between Fort Walton Beach and Panama City, Florida with sustained winds of 125 mph and a central pressure of 955 millibars (28.20 inches). This was the first direct hit by a major hurricane in this area in the 20th century. A wind gust of 155 mph was measured at Panama City and tides were 12 to 16 feet above normal. As the hurricane moved inland it merged with a stationary front over the Mid Atlantic states and very heavy rains occurred from the 25th through the 28th over New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, resulting in major flooding. A total of 21 people were killed and damages mounted to $490 million.  The remnants affected Newport, Rhode Island for two days, resulting in 3.55 inches of rain.

...1983... A thunderstorm downburst caused a timber blow down in the Kaibab National Forest north of the Grand Canyon. Two hundred acres were completely destroyed, and scattered destruction occurred across another 3300 acres. Many trees were snapped off 15 to 30 feet above ground level.

...1987... Autumn began on a rather pleasant note for much of the nation. Showers and thunderstorms were confined to Florida and the southwestern deserts. Warm weather continued in the western U.S., and began to spread into the Great Plains Region, but even in the southwestern deserts readings remained below 100 degrees.

...1988... Thunderstorms developing along a cold front in the south central U.S. produced severe weather in Oklahoma during the afternoon and early evening hours. Thunderstorms produced softball size hail near Noble and Enterprise, and baseball size hail at Lequire and Kinta. A tornado near Noble OK destroyed a mobile home injuring one person.

...1989... Seventeen cities in the north central U.S. reported record low temperatures for the date, including Devils Lake ND with a reading of 22 degrees. Jackson KY reported a record low of 41 degrees during the late afternoon. Strong northwesterly winds ushering cold air into the central and northeastern U.S. gusted to 55 mph at Indianapolis IND. Winds along the cold front gusted to 65 mph at Norfolk VA, and thunderstorms along the cold front deluged Roseland NJ with 2.25 inches of rain in one hour. The temperature at Richmond VA plunged from 84 degrees to 54 degrees in two hours. Snow and sleet was reported at Binghamton NY.

...2000... The Dallas/Fort Worth Airport in Texas recorded .01 inches of rain just before midnight on this date. This ended the longest streak of consecutive days with rainfall at the site -- 84 days. The previous record was 58 days.

...2002... Tropical Storm Lili formed just south of Barbados in the Windward Islands. This was the eighth named storm to form in the Atlantic this month -- a record for number of named storms in any month for the Atlantic.  1.40 inches of rain in one hour deluged Newport, Rhode Island.

...2005... Topeka, Kansas was drenched with 5.61 inches of rain for its greatest daily rainfall on record.

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