Weather History - July 6: Record Heat, Cold, Severe Storms, Flooding and Tropical Storm Alberto

July 5, 8:34 PMWilmington Weather ExaminerCharlie Wilson

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Listed are Meteorological events that happened on July 6th:

1893
A very violent tornado packing winds of over 250 miles an hour tore a 55 mile long path through portions of Cherokee, Buena Vista, Pocahontas and Calhoun Counties of northwest Iowa. In Cherokee County, six people in a single family were killed and three more died in one family near Newell. Further east and southeast, the tornado destroyed 80% of the homes of the 200 families in Pomeroy, leveling many houses to the ground and killing 49 people. Photos showed most of the town without a wall or tree left standing.  In all, 71 people were killed, 200 injured and property losses totaled over $400,000 from this twister in the four counties.

1906
Heavy rain fell in Sachsen, Germany totaling 10.2 inches in 24 hours.

1921
The mercury hit 104° in Ville Marie; Quebec's hottest temperature on record.

1928
A hailstorm at Potter, NE produced a stone 5.5 inches in diameter, and 17 inches in circumference, weighing a pound and a half.

1936
Minnesota recorded its hottest temperature ever when Moorhead hit 114°. Steele, ND recorded their states hottest temperature with a reading of 121°.

1972
Unusually strong Canadian high pressure pushed a cold front into the central Gulf of Mexico.  Richland Center, WI and St. Louis, MO set July record lows of 38° and 51° respectively.  Other daily records: Lansing, MI: 39°, Detroit, MI: 42°, Columbus, OH: 43°, Toledo, OH: 43°, Dayton, OH: 44°, Springfield, MO: 44°, Peoria, IL: 48°, Springfield, IL: 48°, Lexington, KY: 49°, Topeka, KS: 50°, Fort Smith, AR: 50°, Columbia, MO: 51°, Des Moines, IA: 51°, Bristol, TN: 51°, Chattanooga, TN: 52°, Birmingham, AL: 54°, Nashville, TN: 54°, Oak Ridge, TN: 54°, Little Rock, AR: 55°, Wichita, KS: 55°, Oklahoma City, OK: 55°, Tulsa, OK: 55°, Huntsville, AL: 55°, Memphis, TN: 58°, DFW Airport, TX: 59°, Wichita Falls, TX: 59°, Shreveport, LA: 59°, Jackson, MS: 59°, Abilene, TX: 62°, Dallas, TX: 62° and San Antonio, TX: 65°.
***See Slideshow***

1978
Severe thunderstorms developed over eastern South Dakota during the afternoon and moved quickly to the northeast. Numerous reports of high winds were reported that afternoon and evening. Winds of up to 80 miles an hour were reported and hail as big as baseballs pounded some areas. A tornado produced widespread damage to crops and personal property across Turner and Lincoln counties. All the buildings on one farm were destroyed. Total property and crop damage from the storms was near $20 million dollars.

1982
A severe thunderstorm which produced extremely high winds pummeled Sioux Falls, SD. The thunderstorm produced winds of 125 mph which swept across the city causing damage in a path ten blocks wide and three miles long. Damage, which was heaviest in the south central and northeast sections of town, included thousands of uprooted or damaged trees. Falling trees damaged numerous roofs, porches, garages, and vehicles. Five cars and several semi-trailer trucks were rolled over by the high winds. The National Weather Service office at the airport reported a gust of 82 mph. Damage at the airport included a portion of a hanger roof being blown off and three small aircraft being flipped.

The Temperature in Milan, Italy reached 100°, the second hottest day since 1980.

1983
Cool high pressure settled over the Great Lakes bringing record lows. The 41° at Grand Rapids, MI is the lowest ever recorded during the month of July.  Chicago, IL set a daily record low with 46° and the low of 45° the next morning set the record low for July.
Other daily record lows included: Ste. St. Marie, MI: 36°, Muskegon, MI: 41° and La Crosse, WI: 48°.

1985
Lightning struck a large transformer at the Utah Power and Light generating station, sending a 200 foot fireball into the air.  Almost the entire state of Utah lost power for up to five hours.

1986
Thunderstorm rains during the mid morning hours, and again during the evening, produced major flash-flooding at Leavenworth, KS. The official rainfall total was 10.37 inches, but unofficial totals exceeded a foot.  Nearby Kansas City recorded a daily record for July with 5.08 inches.

Pocatello, ID set a new record low temperature for this date with an overnight low temperature of 35°.  This reading also goes down in the record books as the coldest temperature ever recorded in Pocatello for the month of July. 

1987
Thunderstorms produced severe weather in 21 states east of the Rockies, with severe weather reported in Kentucky and Indiana for the second day in a row. A thunderstorm produced more than 5 inches of rain in one hour near Reynolds, IL. Rochester, NY was soaked with 3.25 inches, a record 24 hour total for the month of July.

1988
36 cities in the north central and northeastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Afternoon temperatures of 98° at International Falls, MN and 101° at Flint, MI equaled all-time records. Highs of 96° at Muskegon, MI and 97° at Buffalo, NY were records for July.  Other daily records included: Williamsport, PA: 101°, South Bend, IN: 100°, Alpena, MI: 100°, Detroit, MI: 100°, Grand Rapids, MI: 100°, Lansing, MI: 100°, Toledo, OH: 100°, Milwaukee, WI: 99°, Chicago, IL: 99°, Fort Wayne, IN: 99°, Indianapolis, IN: 99°, Green Bay, WI: 98°, Marquette, MI: 98°, Akron, OH: 98°, Youngstown, OH: 98°, Pittsburgh, PA: 98°, Cleveland, OH: 97°, Ste. St. Marie, MI: 96°, Mansfield, OH: 96°, Duluth, MN: 95° and Binghamton, NY: 92°.

Severe thunderstorms with very high winds raked northern Oklahoma. Winds gusted to 98 mph at Woodring Airport, near Enid, damaging several airplanes and hangars. Strong winds also blew off the roof of both a school in nearby Garber, and a museum in Elk City.
***See Slideshow***

1989
Unseasonably hot weather prevailed in the southwestern U.S.  10 cities reported record high temperatures for the date, including Las Vegas, NV with 115°. Hanksville, UT reached 112°, Bullhead City, AZ hit 120° and Death Valley, CA soared to 126°.

1994
Heavy rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto produced major flooding across central and northern Georgia -- one of the worst ever for the state.  Three day rainfall totals exceeded 15 inches in the Atlanta metro area.  21.10 inches was recorded at Americus.  Macon was deluged with 9.73 inches in 24 hours.  Massive road closings were common, along with numerous bridge washouts.  Over 800,000 acres of land in Georgia and Alabama were flooded.  30 people lost their lives and 50,000 people were forced from their homes.  Total damage exceeded $750 million.

1996
The hottest July temperature ever recorded in Oklahoma City, OK is 110°.

1997
More than 7,000 lightning strikes in 90-minutes lit up the skies over the Greater Vancouver and southern Vancouver Island in Canada. During the evening of July 7 and early morning on the 8th, Vancouver received more than 1.46 inches of rain, the second heaviest one-day rainfall ever recorded in July. The total exceeded the normal rainfall for the month of 1.42 inches.

The remnants of a western Pacific tropical storm dumped a 24-hour record July rainfall of 2.14 inches at Juneau, AK.

1998
A narrow band of thunderstorms dumped between 3 to 4 inches of rain, in less than three hours, over parts of north central and northeast Illinois.  In LaSalle County, the heavy rain caused a portion of a road to collapse, leaving a hole about 12 feet wide, and 10 feet deep.

1999
A 588-594 millibar decameter heat ridge stretched across much of the country except for the northern tier.  Record heat occurred across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.  Record highs for the date included: Washington, D.C.: 103°, Raleigh-Durham, NC: 102°, Newark, NJ: 102°, Harrisburg, PA: 102°, Baltimore, MD: 101°, NYC-Central Park, NY: 101°, NYC-LaGuardia, NY: 101°, Salisbury, MD: 100°, Roanoke, VA: 100°, Allentown, PA: 100°, Reading, PA: 100°, Trenton, NJ: 100°, Atlantic City, NJ: 99°, Islip, NY: 99°, NYC-Kennedy, NY: 99°, Hartford, CT: 99°, Lynchburg, VA: 98°, Huntington, WV: 98°, Wilmington, DE: 98°, Philadelphia, PA: 98°, Bridgeport, CT: 98°, Elizabeth City, NC: 98°-Tied, Providence, RI: 97°, Wallops Island, VA: 97°, Scranton-Wilkes Barre, PA: 96°, Albany, NY: 95°, Concord, NH: 95° and Mt. Pocono, PA: 93°.
***See Slideshow***

2001
A series of tornadoes and near-shore waterspouts plagued the area around Myrtle Beach, SC during the afternoon hours.

Heavy rain from thunderstorms produced 1.38 inches of rain in an hour at Jean, NV. Significant flooding of area roads was noted. Heavy rain in Las Vegas, NV also made several roads impassable.

2007
Death Valley reaches 129° the fourth time it has been so hot at this site since 1913.

2008
Canadian Mounted Police scrambled to shut down roads leading north from Highway 1, near Brooks, Alberta following a report of a tornado on Highway 36. Earlier, two tornadoes touched down east of Airdrie.