Today in US Weather History:

for this day July 18

July 18, 1889
A cloudburst in West Virginia along the small creeks in Wirt County, Jackson County and Wood County claimed twenty lives. Rockport, WV, reported nineteen inches of rain in two hours and ten minutes that Thursday evening. Tygart Creek rose 22 feet in one hour, and villages were swept away on Tygart, Slate, Tucker, and Sandy Creeks. (The Weather Channel)

July 18, 1936
The all time record high temperature for the state of Kansas was set when a 121-degree high temperature fried Fredonia. (US National Weather Service Wichita)

July 18, 1942
A record deluge occurred at Smethport in northern Pennsylvania, with 30.7 inches in just six hours. The downpours and resultant flooding in Pennsylvania were devastating. (David Ludlum)

July 18, 1986
One of the most photo-genic tornadoes touched down in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis, MN, during the late afternoon. The very slow moving tornado actually appeared live on the evening news by way of an aerial video taken by the KARE-TV helicopter crew. The tornado, unlike most, was quite the prima donna, staying visible to tens of thousands of persons for thirty minutes. It was moderate in intensity, with winds of 113-157 mph, and caused 650 thousand dollars damage. (Storm Data)

July 18, 1987
Cool weather prevailed in the western U.S. Seven cities reported record low temperatures for the date, including Alamosa, CO, with a reading of 38 degrees. The low of 52 degrees at Bakersfield, CA, was a record for July. Up to eight inches of snow covered the Northern Sierra Nevada Range of California from a storm the previous day. During that storm, winds gusting to 52 mph at Slide Mountain, NV, produced a wind chill reading of 20 degrees below zero. Susanville, CA, reached 17 degrees that previous day, Blue Canyon, CA, dipped to a July record of 36 degrees, and the high of 44 degrees at Klamath Falls, OR, smashed their previous record for July by ten degrees. (The National Weather Summary)

July 18, 1988
Sweltering heat continued in California, with record highs of 111 degrees at Redding and 112 degrees at Sacramento. Death Valley, CA, hit 127 degrees. Late afternoon and evening thunderstorms in the Central Plains Region produced baseball size hail at Kimball, NE, wind gusts to 79 mph at Colby, KS, and six inches of rain near Lexington, NE. (The National Weather Summary)

July 18, 1989
Thunderstorms produced severe weather in Oklahoma, northern Texas and Arkansas during the afternoon, and into the night. Thunderstorms produced baseball size hail at Stamford, TX, and wind gusts to 92 mph near Throckmorton, TX. Record heat continued in the southwestern U.S. Phoenix AZ reported a record high of 115 degrees, and a 111 degree reading at Midland, TX, was second only to their all-time record high of 112 degrees established sixteen days earlier. (The National Weather Summary)

Data courtesy of WeatherForYou

Today in Illinois Weather History

May 5th thru 12th

May 5  1977: Severe thunderstorms moved across central and northeast Illinois during the evening hours. The town of Atlanta, in northeast Logan County, was hit by a tornado, destroying 4 homes and severely damaging 12 others. The tornado moved northeast for about 10 miles, lifting just southwest of Bloomington.

May 6  1876: A tornado, estimated at F3 intensity, tracked 4 miles across Chicago, collapsing many buildings downtown. The damaged buildings included a candy factory, a hospital, a freight depot, and a church. The tornado moved out over Lake Michigan, and was observed by a reporter to have multiple vortices. Further south in Illinois, across Cumberland County, a tornado blew a moving passenger train off the tracks near Neoga, injuring all 19 people aboard.
 1983: A dust storm, unusual in Illinois, affected central and northeast parts of the state. The dust was kicked up from freshly plowed farm fields, and blown northeast by winds up to 60 mph. The dust reduced visibility in some areas to near zero. Numerous accidents resulted, including one near Rantoul which involved 9 cars and 2 semi-trailers.
 2003: A violent tornado tracked across the southern tip of Illinois. The tornado touched down near Grand Chain in Pulaski County, moving east to near Joppa in Massac County, before curving northeast and lifting near Golconda in Pope County, a total of 33 miles and 1 hour 10 minutes. Two people were killed and 33 injured. The tornado caused severe damage to the forested region of the area, as well as to a few dozen homes and trailers. The storms also produced an estimated wind gust of 125 mph northeast of Metropolis.

May 7  1992: Very dry weather prevailed in northern and central Illinois during the month. Records for the driest May were set in Chicago, Moline, and Rockford. Springfield reported .52" of rain during the month, while Peoria had .82"; both finished as the second driest May on record.
May 8  1988: Severe thunderstorms moved across northern and central Illinois. Winds gusted to 81 mph in Rockford, 75 mph in Pontiac, over 80 mph east of Springfield, and over 70 mph east of Peoria. Damage was reported to dozens of trees and power lines down. $1.5 million damage occurred to buildings in East Peoria, with $1 million damage in Greene County.
 1996: Slow moving thunderstorms dumped several inches of rain over a large part of central and eastern Illinois. In Sangamon County, Up to 600 homes were affected by flooding, although most damage was minor. At Springfield's Capital Airport, the rain total of 3.54 inches was a record for the date, and was the 2nd highest total on record for a single day during May. The storms were also responsible for an 80 mph wind gust which caused damage near Loami and Glenarm, in southern Sangamon County. In Lawrence County of southeast Illinois, nearly the entire town of Birds was evacuated due to flood waters.
 2000: Severe thunderstorms caused damage in portions of west central Illinois during the afternoon. A tornado touched down near Shamrock, in McLean County, causing damage to several machine sheds and barns, and a home 2 miles northwest of Downs received major damage. Another tornado touched down west of Parkland, in Tazewell County, destroying 4 grain bins and blowing a machine shed 100 yards. In Woodford, a 27-mile-long area received damage to trees, power poles, and power lines, and several machine sheds were destroyed by winds gusting as high as 80 mph.

May 9  1927: A tornado touched down 5 miles east of Morrisonville, in southwestern Christian County, then moved northeast to Decatur. In Christian County, the tornado killed one person and caused 67 injuries. The tornado widened in the Decatur area, did minor damage to over 1,000 homes, and injured around 50 people.
 1995: Severe weather struck central Illinois, with numerous reports of hail and tornadoes. The strongest tornado originated northwest of Springfield around 5 pm, moving northeast. It affected areas along the Menard/Sangamon County border, especially the small town of Cantrall. The tornado then moved into southern Logan County through the town of Elkhart. The tornado was on the ground for 40 miles, finally lifting in eastern Logan County, about 5 miles northeast of the town of Beason. Six people were injured by these tornadoes, with damage estimated around $10 million. Severe thunderstorms also produced two strong tornadoes in northwest parts of Illinois, each of which traveled over 40 miles.

May 10  1880: A tornado estimated to be F4 intensity moved across 20 miles of Scott and Morgan Counties. The tornado touched down near Alsey and moved northeast, passing 8 miles south of Jacksonville. The tornado was strongest in the Pisgah area, where 30 buildings were destroyed. Seven people were killed. Further east, an F3 tornado touched down just north of Clinton, and moved northeast to near Arrowsmith, across DeWitt and McLean Counties.
 1996: Thunderstorms produced 3 to 5 inches of rain across parts of east central Illinois during the morning, leading to flash floods. In southern Champaign County, the town of Broadlands sustained major flood damage to 5 homes and minor damage to another 29, as well as to the local high school. In Vermilion County, parts of Danville had to be evacuated after flood gates were opened on Lake Vermilion.
 2003: Several tornadoes touched down during the evening across central and western Illinois. A long track tornado caused extensive damage in eastern parts of South Pekin, destroying 50 homes and damaging another 80. The tornado moved into Morton, destroying several apartment buildings and damaging many vehicles on I-155 and I-74. Over 100 homes in Morton were damaged.

May 11  1952: A few snow flurries fell on Springfield, establishing the date of the city's latest snowfall on record.
 2008: Unseasonably strong low pressure moved across central Illinois during the daytime hours on Mothers Day. The strong pressure gradient produced widespread wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph, with local gusts over 60 mph. The winds blew down numerous tree limbs, and a few trees.

May 12  1886: A tornado which peaked at F4 intensity touched down in Vermilion County near Armstrong, and passed between Alvin and Rossville before moving into Indiana. At least 5 houses were destroyed, two of which were totally swept away. Three people were killed. Five other strong tornadoes occurred across Illinois that day: two near Mt. Carroll, one near Odell, one near Jacksonville, and one in Iroquois County.
 1978: A severe thunderstorm spawned a tornado which moved across 31 miles of Macoupin and Montgomery Counties. The tornado touched down near Shipman and lifted northeast of Farmersville, causing $245,000 damage. Later, a second tornado moved through Decatur, damaging 43 residences and 3 mobile homes.

Data Courtesy of Central IL NWS

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