Weather History - July 9: Record Heat, Snow, Severe Storms, Hurricane Bertha and Flooding

July 8, 5:40 PMWilmington Weather ExaminerCharlie Wilson

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Listed are Meteorological events that happened on July 9th:

1860
A hot blast of air in the middle of a sweltering summer pushed the mercury up to 115° at Fort Scott and Lawrence, KS.

1882
Ice formed on the streets of Cheyenne, WY during a rare summer freeze.

1914
Finland's hottest day on record occurred as the town of Turku hit 97°.

1933
The hottest day in Sweden on record occurred as the town of Ultina hit 100°.

1936
The temperature hit an all-time record high of 106° at the Central Park Observatory in New York City, a record which lasted until LaGuardia Airport hit 107° on 7/3/1966.  Other record highs included: Aberdeen, SD: 115°, Huron, SD: 107°, Williamsport, PA: 106°, Lexington, KY: 106°, Columbus, OH: 105°, Washington, D.C.: 104°, Evansville, IN: 104°, Waterloo, IA: 104°, Albany, NY: 103°, Allentown, PA: 103°, Avoca, PA: 103°, Harrisburg, PA: 103°, Philadelphia, PA: 103°, Baltimore, MD: 103°, Indianapolis, IN: 103°, St. Louis, MO: 103°, Rochester, NY: 102°, Syracuse, NY: 102°, Lynchburg, VA: 102°, South Bend, IN: 102°, Pittsburgh, PA: 101°, Roanoke, VA: 101°, Akron, OH: 101°, Rochester, MN: 101°, Wilmington, DE: 100°, Charleston, WV: 100°, Mansfield, OH: 100°, Toledo, OH: 100°, Hartford, CT: 99°, St. Cloud, MN: 99°, Erie, PA: 98°, Youngstown, OH: 98°, Duluth, MN: 98°, Cleveland, OH: 97°, Elkins, WV: 95° and Beckley, WV: 94°.

1959
A severe thunderstorm crossed from France into England leaving a 130-mile hail swath across southeast England. The town of Wokingham was pelted with baseball size hail.  The storm passed over an intensive field research program allowing it to be one of the most intensely studied supercell storms at the time.

1968
Columbus, MS received 15.68 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a state record.

1979
Hurricane Bob was born in the Gulf of Mexico, becoming the first Atlantic Hurricane to be given a male name.

A tornado moved along six blocks of Cocoa Beach, Florida's motel strip, severely damaging four motels, an office complex, a fast food restaurant, a bank, pharmacy and supermarket. Many cars were damaged as the tornado moved north along A1A. Only six minor injuries were reported.

Severe thunderstorms struck the western parts of north Texas. The worst storms were in Foard County, and in the Vernon area. Near Vernon, 80 mph winds blew cars off Highway 287, while in Foard County Highway 70 was temporarily closed when a tractor trailer was blown over onto its side. A second tractor trailer was turned over near Crowell by winds estimated at 80 mph.

1982
Wind shear caused the crash of Pam Am flight 759 after takeoff from New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana. 145 people on the plane and 8 people on the ground were killed.

1987
Thunderstorms produced severe weather in Michigan. A tornado near Munising, MI destroyed part of a commercial dog kennel, and one of the missing dogs was later found unharmed in a tree top half a mile away.

It was the 33rd consecutive 100 plus degree day at Tucson, AZ, breaking the record. Strangely enough, the morning low was a record 68° was the 4th record breaking low in the past five days.

1988
23 cities in the eastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Alpena, MI and Buffalo, NY suffered through their 6th straight day of record heat. Daily records included: Cincinnati, OH: 103°, Louisville, KY: 103°, Nashville, TN: 103°, Chattanooga, TN: 102°, Knoxville, TN: 102°, Oak Ridge, TN: 102°, Huntington, WV: 100°, Jackson, KY: 100°, Fort Wayne, IN: 100°, Burlington, VT: 97°, Bristol, TN: 96°, Binghamton, NY: 95°, Buffalo, NY: 92° and Portland, ME: 92°. The percentage of total area in the country in the grips of severe to extreme drought reached 43%, the 4th highest total of record. The record of 61% occurred during the summer of 1934.
***See Slideshow***

1989
Morning thunderstorms produced very heavy rain in southern Lower Michigan and northern Indiana. Up to 5.6 inches of rain was reported in Berrien County, Michigan. 
Scottsbluff, NE recorded their last of 9 consecutive days with a high temperature of at least 100 degrees, Scottsbluff’s longest 100 degree streak on record. Sioux Falls, SD reported a record high of 108°.

1992
Severe thunderstorms produced a swath of very large and damaging hail and damaging winds. Golfball-size hail and 60 mph winds were reported on the west side of Decatur, IL with numerous roofs and automobiles damaged by the hail. Hail grew to nearly the size of baseballs by the time the storms reached the Charleston/Mattoon areas. Total damage from the storms was estimated around $5 million.

1993
One of the strongest and most long-lived wind events of recorded history in the Midwest pounded portions of Nebraska and Iowa. The wind event, called a Derecho, actually started near Goodland, KS and raced across southern Nebraska and into Iowa traveling at 60 mph. In the Omaha metro area, tree and property damage was heavy as 70 to 100 mph winds caused $7 million in damage. Also in Nebraska, power line damage alone totaled $30 million and total property damage was estimated near $100 million. This wind storm even spawned a tornado in the city of Lincoln, NE causing damage to the north end of town. As the derecho moved into southwest Iowa, 13 high-tension power line poles were downed on the east side of Council Bluffs. Winds continued in the 85 mph range as far as east as Fremont County, Iowa before finally subsiding in the central part of the Hawkeye State.
11 inches of rain fell overnight in Scranton, IA. Much of the downtown of Davenport, IA was under water as the Great Flood of 1993 raged on.

Across the east, record daily high temperatures were set at: Newark, NJ: 104°, NYC-Kennedy Airport, NY: 101°, Greensboro, NC: 101°, Atlantic City, NY: 100°, Wallops Island, VA: 100°, Dulles Airport, VA: 99°, NYC-LaGuardia, NY: 98°, Concord, NH: 95°, and Islip, NY: 93°.
***See Slideshow***

1996
Hurricane Bertha became a major hurricane north of Puerto Rico, with 115 mph winds, the first of six major hurricanes that year. The storm would later threaten Florida and eventually make landfall in North Carolina on July 12th, near Wrightsville Beach.

1998
Heavy rain producing thunderstorms formed over the southeast side of the Las Vegas Valley in Nevada during a two hour period. At the onset of the storms, a lightning strike set fire to a large house which completely destroyed the structure. Over one inch of rainfall led to flash flooding which forced the closure of several streets in Henderson and East Las Vegas. One car was stranded and damaged by flood waters early in the afternoon and another car was caught in flood waters in the Las Vegas Wash during the evening, long after the thunderstorms had ended.
2001
Flash flooding affected many areas in eastern Illinois, between Danville and Lawrenceville.  Observers and radar estimates indicated from 8 to 10 inches of rain fell in parts of Edgar and Coles Counties, causing widespread flooding.  One person died several hours after the heavy rain ended, when he drove into a flooded area near Oakland, in Coles County.

The temperature at New York City reached 103°, their hottest day in 24 years.

2002
Idyllwild, CA hit 101°, their highest temperature on record and the earliest 100-degree reading of the season.  Other daily record included: Victorville, CA: 110°, Palomar Mountain, CA: 96°, Big Bear Lake, CA: 93°.

2003
A new July maximum temperature record was set as Anchorage, AK hit 84°.

2004
A tornado swept through Grande Prairie, Alberta Canada about 280 miles northwest of Edmonton.  No injuries were reported, but a car was flipped, hydro poles snapped and shingles were ripped from buildings.

2007
Death Valley, CA recorded its 32nd consecutive day over 100° with a 121° reading.

The Argentine capital experienced their first major snowfall since 6/22/1918 as a wet snow spread a thin white mantle over the area. The storm hit on Argentina's Independence Day holiday thus adding to a festive air. Thousands of Argentineans cheered the event, throwing snowballs in the streets. Local radio stations dusted off an old tango song inspired by the 1918 snowfall: What a night!