Weather History: November 4: Record Warm, Cold, Snow, Storms, Flooding Yankee Hurricane & Michelle

November 3, 10:08 PMWilmington Weather ExaminerCharlie Wilson

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Listed are Meteorological events that happened on November 4th:

Radiosondes are weather instruments that measure temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure of the atmosphere. These radiosondes are carried into the sky using weather balloons filled with helium or hydrogen. When inflated, the balloon is about 4-5 feet in diameter and several feet high. However, as the balloon ascends, the decreased effects of barometric pressure cause the balloon to expand. It will usually pop at an elevation close to 100,000 feet off the ground. By this time, the balloon is about the size of a small house.

1927
The great Vermont flood occurred. Tropical rains deluged the Green Mountain area of Vermont causing the worst flood in the history of the state. Torrential rains, up to 15 inches in the higher elevations, sent streams on a rampage devastating the Winooski Valley. Flooding claimed 200 lives and caused $40 million dollars damage. The town of Vernon reported 84 deaths. Flooding left up to eight to ten feet of water in downtown Montpelier VT.

1935
The "Yankee" Hurricane hit Miami, FL. The storm was so-named because it came from a northeasterly direction. This was rare, because hurricanes almost never approach south Florida from the northeast. Winds exceeded 95 mph at Miami.

1940
The longest period with snow at 200 days ended on this date at Denver, CO with the first snow of the season, a trace.  The last snow prior was on 4/17/1940.

1946
The United Kingdom recorded its hottest November day on record when the high temperature reached 71° at Prestatyn, Wales.

1950
An F3 tornado skipped from the Neighborville-Reamstown area, to Adamstown and
Tuckerton, Berks County, Pennsylvania, damaging or destroying 14 buildings.

1970
An F2 tornado touched down during the afternoon in Atlantic County, New Jersey. An intense hailstorm at Point Pleasant Beach, NJ produced significant accumulation.

1976
Parts of the west enjoyed record heat.  San Diego, CA hit 97°, setting their highest November temperature.  Other daily records included: Los Angeles (LAX), CA: 96°, Downtown Los Angeles, CA: 96°, Sacramento, CA: 84°, Stockton, CA: 83°-Tied, Havre, MT: 76° and Quillayute, WA: 65°.

1980
Vancouver, British Columbia Canada set a record high and their warmest November day ever as the mercury soared to 65°.  Further south record highs occurred across parts of the west.  Idyllwild, CA tied their highest reading for November with 80°.  Other daily record highs included: Borrego Springs, CA: 94°, Las Vegas, NV: 85°, Elko, NV: 78°, Winnemucca, NV: 76°, Lander, WY: 69°-Tied, Portland, OR: 69°-Tied and Quillayute, WA: 65°-Tied.

1982
The five day long heat wave along the east coast came to an abrupt end with the passage of a strong cold front.  For the previous five days, a strong ridge of high pressure moved from the Midwest across the Ohio Valley to off the east coast.  Temperatures warmed into the 70’s all the way into New England and the low 80’s to Philadelphia.  Record highs for the date included: Vero Beach, FL: 87°, Newark, NJ: 77°-Tied, Burlington, VT: 73° and Caribou, ME: 66°.

1985
Tropical rains from the remnants of Hurricane Juan dumped up to 15 inches in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia causing devastating damage and claiming 40 lives.

1987
Many cities in the eastern and south central U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date.  Highs of 89° at Dallas, TX, 86° at Fort Smith, AR and 74° at Portland, ME and equaled November records.  Other daily record highs included: Houston, TX: 88°, San Angelo, TX: 88°, Wichita Falls, TX: 88°, Dallas (DFW), TX: 88°-Tied, Miami, FL: 88°-Tied, Midland-Odessa, TX: 87°, Abilene, TX: 87°-Tied, Lake Charles, LA: 85°, Galveston, TX: 82°, Evansville, IN: 82°, Paducah, KY: 82°, Memphis, TN: 82°, Nashville, TN: 81°, Tupelo, MS: 81°, Louisville, KY: 80°, Columbus, OH: 78°, Oak Ridge, TN: 78°, Wallops Island, VA: 78°, Newark, NJ: 78°, Hartford, CT: 78°, Boston, MA: 78°, Cincinnati, OH: 78°-Tied, Cape Hatteras, NC: 78°-Tied, Jackson, KY: 77°, Asheville, NC: 77°, Providence, RI: 77°, Milton, MA: 77°, Albany, NY: 76°, New York (LaGuardia Airport), NY: 76°, Syracuse, NY: 75°, Concord, NH: 75°, Worcester, MA: 74°, Portland, ME: 74°, Binghamton, NY: 72° and Islip, NY: 70°.
A cold front ushered much colder air into the north central U.S.  Gale force winds lashed all 5 Great Lakes.

Heavy rain and storms began on this date and lasted into the next day brought 2.02 inches of rain to Palomar Mountain, CA and 1.16 inches to San Diego.  Numerous roads were flooded around San Diego along with mudslides in nearby areas.  Flash flooding stranded 8,000 people in Death Valley, CA.

1988
Thunderstorms developing ahead of a fast moving cold front produced severe weather over the Tennessee Valley and the Central Gulf Coast States during the afternoon and evening hours, and into the next morning.  Thunderstorms spawned 19 tornadoes, including 11 in Mississippi.  One tornado narrowly missed a high school football game in McComb, MS.  An F3 tornado struck a school at New Site, MS just as it was dismissing. Alert teachers rushed the students back into hallways just in time.  The last of the 19 twisters killed a woman in her mobile home in Lee, FL.  A tornado in Culbert, AL injured 16 people, and caused $2 million dollars damage.  Thunderstorms also produced baseball size hail in Alabama.

Unseasonably hot air prevailed south of the cold front.  McAllen, TX was the hot spot in the nation with a high of 102°.  Locations setting high temperature records for November included: Corpus Christi, TX: 98°, Del Rio, TX: 96°, San Antonio, TX: 94°, Victoria, TX: 93°, Houston, TX: 89°-Tied, Key West, FL: 87°-Tied, Galveston, TX: 85°-Tied and Bishop, CA: 83°.  Big Bear Lake, CA tied their all-time November high temperature record with 74°.
Other daily record highs included: Brownsville, TX: 97°, Austin, TX: 89°, Austin (Bergstrom), TX: 89°, Midland-Odessa, TX: 89°, Miami, FL: 89°, El Paso, TX: 86°, Roswell, NM: 86° and Las Vegas, NV: 85°-Tied.

1989
Snow and high winds plagued parts of Colorado and Wyoming.  Winds gusted to 71 mph near Wheatland, WY, and reached 80 mph west of Fort Collins, CO.  Up to 5 inches of snow blanketed Yellowstone Park, WY closing many roads.  Snow also blanketed northern Minnesota, with 7 inches reported at Baudette.

1991
Record cold continued to prevail from the Rockies to the Southeast as cold high pressure built in behind the Halloween Meg-Storm.  Record low temperatures were set at: Alamosa, CO: -13°, Norfolk, NE: -9°, St. Cloud, MN: -9°, Sioux Falls, SD: -6°, Lincoln, NE: -4°, Grand Island, NE: -3°, Sioux City, IA: -3°, Minneapolis, MN: -3°, Aberdeen, SD: -2°, Lander, WY: -2°, International Falls, MN: -2°, Rochester, MN: -2°, Valentine, NE: 0°, Huron, SD: 0°, North Platte, NE: 2°, Omaha, NE: 3°, Pueblo, CO: 3°, Concordia, KS: 4°, Des Moines, IA: 4°, Waterloo, IA: 4°, La Crosse, WI: 4°, Duluth, MN: 4°-Tied, Dubuque, IA: 6°, Marquette, MI: 6°, Kansas City, MO: 7°, Dodge City, KS: 9°, Topeka, KS: 9°, Springfield, MO: 10°, Moline, IL: 10°, Rockford, IL: 10°-Tied, Chicago, IL: 11°, Peoria, IL: 11°, Springfield, IL: 11°, Elkins, WV: 11°, Columbia, MO: 13°, Akron, OH: 13°, Youngstown, OH: 14°, Cincinnati, OH: 16°, Cleveland, OH: 16°, Paducah, KY: 16°, Wichita, KS: 17°, Evansville, IN: 17°, Midland-Odessa, TX: 18°, Columbus, OH: 18°, Lexington, KY: 18°, Flint, MI: 18°-Tied, Huntington, WV: 19°, Fort Smith, AR: 20°, Jackson, KY: 20°, Louisville, KY: 20°, Nashville, TN: 20°, Huntsville, AL: 20°, San Angelo, TX: 21°, Tulsa, OK: 21°, Tupelo, MS: 21°, Charleston, WV: 21°, Amarillo, TX: 22°, Memphis, TN: 22°, Birmingham, AL: 22°, Waco, TX: 23°, Shreveport, LA: 23°, Little Rock, AR: 23°, Dallas, (DFW), TX: 25°, Austin (Bergstrom), TX: 27°, Baton Rouge, LA: 27°, Montgomery, AL: 27°-Tied, Houston, TX: 28°, San Antonio, TX: 28°, Mobile, AL: 28°, Austin, TX: 29°, Del Rio, TX: 30°, Pensacola, FL: 30°, Lake Charles, LA: 31°, Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX: 32° and Galveston, TX: 37°.
***See Slideshow***
1994
A record warm November day in The Netherlands occurred when the high temperature reached 70° in Oost Maarland and Beek.

2000
The record string of days with no precipitation finally ended at some sites in North Carolina. The Raleigh and Durham International Airport received 0.01 of an inch of rain; the first measurable rain since September 26th when 0.03 of an inch of rain fell.  The 38-day streak was the longest on record at the site breaking the 32-day record set from 11/23 to 12/24/1965.

2001
Hurricane Michelle was only the 5th November major hurricane in the Atlantic.  At its peak intensity on the 3rd, the Category 4 hurricane had top winds of 135 mph.  Hurricane warnings were in effect for Cuba on the 3rd as the island braced for its worst hurricane since 1944.  The storm weakened before landfall, but Cuba suffered significant damage to crops and infrastructure, especially the important sugar cane crop that was ready for harvest.  Fortunately, the hurricane missed major cities and crossed less inhabited agricultural areas.

A few locations out west reported record highs for the date including: Phoenix, AZ: 95°, Tucson, AZ: 91°-Tied, Merced, CA: 77° and Pocatello, ID: 66°-Tied.
***See Slideshow***