...1889... Los Angeles, California had two rainfall records broken in one event. A .61 inch rainfall set the record for the heaviest 24 hour rainfall and the largest monthly total for the month of August.

...1915... The temperature at Bartlesville OK dipped to 38 degrees to establish a state record for the month of August.

...1954... Hurricane Carol (central pressure 960 millibars, 28.35 inches) slammed into New England and caused an enormous amount of damage across the region. Wind gusts exceeding 120 mph were recorded on the south coast of New England with Block Island measuring a 130 mph gust. Newport, Rhode Island recorded a wind gust of 109 miles per hour (breaking the old record of 36 miles per hour in 1939) with 2.60 inches of rain  (breaking the old record of 2.01 inches set in 1911) (.80 inches in one hour) and a low barometer reading of 28.65 inches (breaking the previous record of 29.72  inches set in 1953 and the second lowest reading for the month of August..  The Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, Massachusetts recorded a gust to 125 mph. Boston reported sustained of winds of 86 mph with a peak gust of 100 mph. Tides were pushed 10 to 15 feet above normal. Downtown Providence was flooded by a near record high tide. 60 people were killed and total damage was 450 million dollars, making it the most costly hurricane to date. The severity of this hurricane was only exceeded to by the 1938 Hurricane.

...1971... The low of 84 degrees and high of 108 degrees at Death Valley CA were the coolest of the month. The average daily high was 115.7 degrees that August, and the average daily low was 93.4 degrees.

...1973... At Newport, Rhode Island the high temperature peaked at 93 degress, breaking the old record of 92 degrees set in 1953.

...1979... Hurricane David made landfall near Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic as a Category 5 storm with winds of 175 mph and a pressure of 926 millibars (27.34 inches). Over 1000 people were killed, mostly due to extreme flooding. Nearly 70 percent of the crops were destroyed.

...1984... Lightning ignited several forest fires in Montana, one of which burned through 100,000 acres of timber and grassland.

...1985... Newport, Rhode Island broke its monthly rainfall record with 11.81 inches, breaking the old record of 11.77 inches set back in August 1941.

...1987... Eight cities in Washington and Oregon reported record high temperatures for the date, including Eugene OR and Portland OR with afternoon highs of 102 degrees. The high of 102 degrees at Portland smashed their previous record for the date by twelve degrees. Frost was reported in South Dakota. Aberdeen SD established a record for the month of August with a morning low of 32 degrees, and Britton SD dipped to 31 degrees.

...1988... August ended on a relatively mild and tranquil note for most of the nation. Forest fires in the northwestern U.S. scorched 180,000 acres of land during the last week of August.

...1989... Thunderstorms developing along a stationary front spread severe weather from Minnesota to Indiana through the course of the day and night. Thunderstorms in Minnesota produced baseball size hail near Saint Michael and Hutchinson, and drenched Moose Lake with nine inches of rain in six hours. Tucson AZ hit 100 degrees for a record 79th time in the year, surpassing a record established the previous year.

...1991... Portland, Maine ended up with 15.22 inches of rain for the month, setting a new all-time monthly rainfall record for any month. The old record was 13.50 inches set in November of 1983.

...1993... Hurricane Emily lashed the outer banks of North Carolina on this day. The Hatteras Weather Service Office recorded a gust 98 mph and was deluged with 7.51 inches of rain. Another anemometer in the area recorded a wind gust to 107 mph. Sound water levels rose to 10.5 feet above normal just north of Buxton, and to 8.5 feet above normal in the villages of Frisco and Hatteras. This exceeded sound side flooding from any other storms this century at the two villages. Diamond Shoals Coastal Marine Buoy was in the eye and recorded a low pressure of 964.5 millibars (28.47 inches). After the eye passed, sustained winds hit 103 mph with a peak gust of 148 mph.

...2004... Remnants of tropical storm Hermine passed over New Bedford, Massachusetts  dropping 1.02 inches of rain on Newport, Rhode Island.

...2004... 179 tornadoes occurred for the month in the U.S. to set a new record for most tornadoes in August.