...1841... An October gale, the worst of record for Nantucket MA, caught the Cap Cod fishing fleet at sea. Forty ships were driven ashore on Cape Cod, and 57 men perished from the town of Truro alone. Heavy snow fell inland, with 18 inches near Middletown CT.

...1912... The longest dry spell of record in the U.S. commenced as Bagdad CA went 767 days without rain.

...1917... San Francisco, California had their highest ever October temperature reading. The mercury hit 96 degrees

...1963... Hurricane Flora, one of the deadliest hurricanes on record in the Atlantic Basin, battered Haiti with sustained winds around 145 mph. The storm moved northwestward, meandered over western Cuba from the 4th to the 8th, and then finally accelerated northeastward out to sea. 5000 people were killed on Haiti with damage severe to complete. Enormous amounts of rain fell in Cuba due to Flora's slow movement. 90 inches of rain deluged Bayamo. Crops were totally destroyed. A total of 7400 people were killed by Flora and damage was set at $435 million.

...1964... An F4 tornado spawned by Hurricane Hilda cut a short 2 mile path through Larose, Louisiana. The path may have been short but the tornado killed 22 people and injured 165. Usually, hurricane-spawned tornadoes are not nearly this strong. Meanwhile, Hilda produced crossed the coastline with a pressure of 950 millibars and produced sustained winds of 120 mph at Franklin, Louisiana. There were 16 deaths from Hilda directly and total damage was $125 million.

...1979... The first killer tornado of record in October in Connecticut destroyed sixteen vintage aircraft at the Bradley Air Museum in Windsor Locks. The tornado damaged more than one hundred homes causing 200 million dollars damage. Three persons were killed, and 500 others were injured. At Newport, Rhode Island 1.04 inches of rain fell in one hour in a heavy thunderstorm.

...1983... A prolonged very heavy rain event, starting back on September 29th, finally came to an end over the eastern 2/3 of Arizona. anywhere from 2 to 12 inches of rain fell during the period with most of the rain caused by moisture from the remains of Tropical Storm Octave. The result was the most destructive flooding ever in Arizona. 13 people were killed and 1300 homes were destroyed. Damage was estimated at $178 million. 20 main highways had to be closed, isolating dozens of towns.

...1986... Remnants of Hurricane Paine deluged Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas with 6 to 10 inch overnight rains. Hardy OK was drenched with 21.79 inches. Heavy rain between September 26th and October 4th caused 350 million dollars damage in Oklahoma.

...1987... Twenty-five cities in the Upper Midwest, including ten in Iowa, reported record low temperatures for the date. Duluth MN, Eau Claire WI and Spencer IA dipped to 24 degrees. Temperatures warmed into the 80s in the Northern and Central High Plains Region. At Chadron NE, the mercury soared from a morning low of 29 degrees to an afternoon high of 88 degrees. Temperatures soared above 100 degrees in southern California. The high of 108 degrees at Downtown Los Angeles was a record for October.

...1988... Cold Canadian air invaded the north central U.S. bringing an end to the growing season across those states. Unseasonably warm weather prevailed in the southwestern U.S. Phoenix AZ reported a record high of 105 degrees.

...1989... Unseasonably cold weather prevailed from the Pacific Northwest to the Upper Mississippi Valley. A dozen cities reported record low temperatures for the date, including Bismarck ND and Williston ND with readings of 16 degrees above zero. An upper level weather disturbance brought snow to parts of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, with five inches reported at West Yellowstone MT.