...1559... The first recorded U.S. hurricane drove five Spanish ships ashore in Pensacola Harbor along the Florida coast.

...1788... A small but powerful hurricane inflicted great havoc upon forests along a narrow track from New Jersey to Maine. A similar storm track today would cause extreme disaster in the now populated area.

...1885... Los Angeles, California recorded its hottest reading ever for the month of August. The temperature reached 105.6 degrees.

...1890... South Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania was hit by an F3 tornado. 400 buildings were destroyed. The death toll was 16 and 400,000 dollars in damage was done.

...1896... The famous Cottage City (Oak Bluffs) waterspout occurred off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The vortex was 3600 feet high, formed 3 times, and was well photographed.

...1907... At Newport, Rhode Island the low temperature dipped to 51 degrees, setting the record low temperature for the date.  It was later tied in 1963 and 2007.

...1935... Bangor, Maine soared to 104 degrees for its all-time record high temperature.

...1955... Heavy rains over southern New England for the past 2 days from Tropical Storm Diane reached their peak. The soil over the region had already been saturated from heavy rains from Tropical Storm Connie a week before. Newport, Rhode Island recorded 3.28 inches of rain (4.83 inches total  for the 19th and 20th) 1.95 of inches of rain fell in one hour, breaking the old record of .44 inches set in 1991, a wind gust of 38 miles per hour and a low barometric pressure of 29.55 incvhes.  Westfield, Massachusetts recorded 18.15 inches in 24 hours with a 3 day total of 19.76 inches, Extreme floods resulted in all of southern New England. At one point, 40 percent of Worcester, Massachusetts was underwater. Torrington, Connecticut was without power or communications of 48 hours. Woonsocket, Rhode island was hit hard as the Blackstone River, normally only 70 feet wide, swelled to 1.5 miles in width. 82 people were killed and total damage was 800 million dollars.

...1969... 'Never say die' Camille let loose a cloudburst in Virginia resulting in flash floods and landslides which killed 151 persons and cause 140 million dollars damage. Massies Hill VA received 27 inches of rain.

...1986... The temperature at San Antonio TX soared to an all-time record high of 108 degrees.

...1987... Thunderstorms moving out of southeastern Nebraska spread severe weather into eastern Kansas and western Missouri during the day. Thunderstorms in Nebraska produced hail three inches in diameter at Albion, and high winds which downed a large tent at Waterloo injuring a dozen persons. Thunderstorms in Kansas produced baseball size hail northwest of Topeka, and wind gusts to 80 mph at Fulton. Ten persons were injured in a thunderstorm at Princeton KS, and damage to crops in southern Franklin County KS was estimated at 3.5 million dollars.

...1988... Raleigh NC reported a record hot temperature reading of 103 degrees. Afternoon thunderstorms in Oklahoma produced wind gusts to 75 mph in southern Pittsburgh County. Thunderstorms in Indiana produced 4.50 inches of rain at Morgantown.

...1989... Early morning thunderstorms deluged southeastern Delaware with six to ten inches of rain in four to six hours, with local reports of 13 to 20 inches of rain. Twenty-six major roads were closed or damaged, and fourteen bridges were washed out. Flooding caused nearly four million dollars damage to local businesses.

...1991... The eye of Hurricane Bob passed through Newport, Rhode Island on this day. The wind gusted to 105 miles per hour there, breaking the record of 38 miles per hour that was set in 1955 and a low barometric pressure of 28.47 inches was recorded, shattering the previous record of 29.47 inches set in 1969..   It slammed into southern New England with sustained winds of 90 mph and a central pressure of 960 millibars (28.35 inches). Sustained winds of 80 mph with gusts to 110 mph were recorded at the New Bedford Hurricane Barrier. Wind gusts reached 125 mph at Block Island, Rhode Island.  Wind gusts exceeded 100 mph over all of Cape Cod. Blue Hill, Maine recorded a peak gust of 93 mph. a storm surge of 15 feet occurred in upper Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts. Portland, Maine received 7.83 inches of rain in 24 hours to set a new all-time 24 hour record. Total damage from the storm was 1.5 billion dollars and 17 people were killed. This was the worst hurricane to hit New England since Hurricane Donna in 1960.

...2002... The high temperature at Newport, Rhode Island peaked at 89 degrees, breaking the old record of 87 degrees set in 1956, 1974 and 1987.

...2007... Hokah, Minnesota recorded 15.10 inches of rain in 24 hours to set the state's 24 hour rainfall record.