JANUARY 18TH
HISTORICAL WEATHER FACTS
...1857...
A great cold storm swept across the Atlantic Seaboard. Snowfall totals of
12 inches were common, whole gales caused shipwrecks and damage property on
islands, and temperatures near zero prevailed from Virginia northward.
Great drifts of snow blocked transportation. Richmond VA was cut off from
Washington DC for a week. (David Ludlum)
...1973...
A baby was carried 300 to 400 yards by the strong winds of a tornado at
Corey LA, yet received only minor injuries. (The Weather Channel)
...1987...
A storm in the south central U.S. blanketed Oklahoma City with eight inches
of snow, their highest total since 1948. Snowfall totals in Oklahoma ranged
up to 13 inches at Gage, with drifts five feet high. Roof collapses across
the state resulted in seven million dollars damage. (National Weather
Summary) (Storm Data)
...1988...
A storm in the southwestern U.S. produced a 15 to 20 foot surf along the
southern coast of California resulting in more than fifty million dollars
damage. A small tornado in Orange County CA lifted a baseball dugout
fifteen feet into the air and deposited it in the street, 150 yards away.
The same storm also produced 26 inches of snow at Duck Creek UT. (National
Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
...1989...
While fair and mild weather prevailed across the forty-eight states, bitter
cold gripped Alaska. The high temperature for the day at Fairbanks was 30
degrees below zero. Thunderstorms along the western Gulf coast drenched
parts of southwest Houston with more than four inches of rain. (National
Weather Summary)
...1990...
A winter storm produced heavy snow and high winds across the southwestern
U.S. Snowfall totals ranged up to 18 inches at Lake Arrowhead CA and
Ashford AZ. High winds in New Mexico gusted to 100 mph east of Albuquerque.
Unseasonably warm weather continued from Texas to the Atlantic coast.
Twenty cities reported record high temperatures for the date including
Roanoke VA with a reading of 71 degrees. (National Weather Summary) (Storm
Data)