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"This Day In Weather History" is a daily podcast from The Weather Network that features unique and informative stories written and produced by host Chris Mei. Weather happens every day. It can be sunny, cloudy, stormy or maybe just unsettled, but it is always happening! It’s when severe weather strikes that it captures the attention of those affected…and the imagination of everyone else who follows the story. So it is with good reason to expect that after over a century of news and weather i ...
The Timmins 9 grew to 39,524 hectares, resulting in the evacuations of areas around both Timmins and Gogama. Evacuations had also been underway in Kirkland Lake as well. This was the largest wildfire this area had experienced in decades. But again, it was closing in on city centres so it was now national headlines. Learn more about your ad choices.…
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May 22 - The 2011 Deadly and Destructive Joplin EF5
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Tornadoes are fierce and unpredictable. Chasers know this all too well. Especially those who came back with research and images from the EF5 that crushed Joplin Missouri in 2001 and those 200 MPH winds literally picked up the air-lift helicopter and blew it away on this day in weather history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad…
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May 21 - The 1953 F4 Tornado that Struck Sarnia, Ontario
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The rain had started light in the early evening but much heavier bands set in fast and downtown had a storm of walnut sized hail unleashed on them. But then at 5:45 p.m. an F4 rated Tornado hit Sarnia straight on! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Weather Network
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May 20 - The 2013 Deadly Moore, OK EF5 Tornado
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Today’s story is as shocking for the sheer devastation of property as it is because of its toll on human life. This was to be a storm that would prove to be bigger than anyone could have feared; from the moment of that first alert, there was a watch or warning of some type in effect somewhere in the NWS Norman county warning area for what would go …
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May 19 - New England’s “Darkest Day” in 1780
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The Dark Day, as it is known, happened on May 19, way back in the year 1780 in New England...as well as the eastern parts of an English territory that would one day come to be known as Canada. Midway through the morning of this day in weather history, the sky turned a creepy jaundice-yellow. Animals began to run for cover and the darkness started t…
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May 18 - That 1980 Mount St. Helens Eruption!
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It was on the morning of May 18, this day in weather history, when Mount St. Helens was shaken by an earthquake of about 5.0 magnitude, and the entire north side of the summit began to slide down the mountain. The giant landslide of rock and ice, one of the largest recorded in history, was followed by and then actually overtaken by an enormous expl…
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May 17 - The Crash That Cancelled the 2001 Opening of a New Airport
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The Faraz Qeshm Airlines Yak-40, suddenly found itself flying through what had become rapidly deteriorating weather conditions. The rain got real heavy real fast, but then it was struck by a bolt of lightning that was suspected to have possibly knocked out its navigational equipment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…
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May 16 - Extra! Extra! There is a HOLE in The Ozone Layer!!
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It came from three scientists from the British Antarctic Survey who made the chilling announcement of what they had found. This discovery became a look into the mirror for all humans of its ability to damage the Earth's atmosphere. But in the decades that have followed, this near extinction level event, became one of the most famous success stories…
The season overall was already awake as we had already registered one tropical cyclone but this was the first hurricane of 1951, and seeing as how the letter A opens up the alphabet, we had a storm named Able. Later, on May 22, Hurricane Able reached its peak wind speeds for its lifespan when it hit 90 mph (150 km/h) about 70 miles (115 km) off Cap…
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May 14 - The VERY Late 1986 Season Southern Alberta Blizzard
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There were only 5 more weeks to go to the first official day of Summer! On Wednesday, May 14, back in 1986, a very late season snowstorm made its way through Calgary that overwhelmed most of southern Alberta. The freak storm caused power lines to fall, there were power outages associated with that, plus the roads were a disaster with poor driving c…
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May 13 - Rare and Early 2014 Southern Ontario Tornadoes
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This was confirmed by Environment Canada as Ontario's first tornado of the 2014 season! This outbreak was seen long in advance and it was warned by Canada’s Governing Body for weather and climate change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Weather Network
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May 12 - 1997 Mayhem in Miami with a Madcapped Twister
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They called it the Great Miami Tornado of 1997, but that was really, a bit of a stretch. It was an F1 tornado, so people in Oklahoma and Kansas were likely reading about it in the next days paper, thinking “oh how adorable”. It showed up like a proper Miami celebrity. It made possible some of the most haunting pictures which actually became the sub…
That year, a severe drought spread across the region. Crops were scorched and withered and died. And as that spread like a virus to the entire Great Plains collection of States, wind began to carry dust from the over-plowed and over-grazed lands. The over-plowed and abused land was too weak to recover and there was no rain so it was hopeless. It wa…
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May 10 - The 2010 Norman Oklahoma Tornado Story
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In this onslaught, there were over 60 tornadoes! Some of these twisters were large and multi-vortex in nature, meaning they had several centres of rotation within one massive system of rotation. Think tornadoes within tornadoes!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Weather Network
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May 9 - The 2019 "Snow-mencement" at the University of Colorado
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On Thursday May 9th, 2019, this version of their outdoor commencement service got walloped with up to 3 inches of snow, over 7.5 cm of snow on that field, on that day and on those 20,000+ people in Boulder at the University of Colorado. This is one of my favorite episodes of this podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic…
This system caused multiple wind gusts that averaged around 70 mph (over 110kph) with other incidents reported of isolated gusts clocking over 90 mph (145kph) along its destructive path. On the ground, the wind storm produced significant and often fiercely continuous pounding that spread damage over a far reaching stretch that spanned the high plai…
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May 7 - In 1902 a Martinique Mainstay was Wiped off the Map
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On May 7, 1902, Martinique’s Mount Pelée began the deadliest volcanic eruption of the 20th century. The complacency of the citizens played a role in the massive loss of life. When It hit, it hit hard. The following day, the city of Saint Pierre, which I can attest to, lives up to its billing as “the Paris of the Caribbean”, was wiped off the map. L…
On May 4, 2017, a massive storm rolled through the valley, bringing so much rain that Mill Creek spilled its banks and nearby homes and businesses were flooded. As a result of this, on may 6th, a state of emergency was called for Kelowna and West Kelowna. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…
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May 5 - 1110 - The Night the Moon Disappeared
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From the Peterborough (England) Chronicle on May 5, 1110: "On the fifth night of the month of May the moon appeared shining brightly in the evening, and afterwards his light waned by little and little, and early in the night he was so wholly gone that neither light, nor circle, nor anything at all of him was to be seen, and thus it continued till n…
On May 4th, at about 10:45 p.m., part of a town near Saguenay, Quebec dropped 30 metres. The crater it cut out was 300 metres across and more than 30 metres deep. It created a deep channel through which a river of liquefied clay flowed, and it swallowed 30 homes, 15 cars and a bus!! A total of 31 people were killed, most of whom were trapped in the…
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May 3 - The Terrifying Fort McMurray Evacuations Begins
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On May 3, the fire swiftly blew through Fort McMurray and that prompted the largest wildfire evacuation in Alberta's history, with upwards of 88,000 people forced from their homes all of a sudden. The scenes were chaotic. There were very well coordinated escape caravans but the fire was swallowing up routes as fast as they were being designated. Le…
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May 2 - 2019 and Ottawa River's Highest Level Ever
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On May 1, the Ottawa River crested 30 cm above 2017’s peak flood levels. As an immediate response to this, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson issued a State of Emergency on April 25. It was lifted on June 12. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Weather Network
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May 1 - Happy Anniversary Environment Canada!
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They are Canada’s authoritative source for severe-weather alerts and weather, water, ice, and climate data. As a matter of fact, in times of crises that cause enough of a stir for it to be remembered as a memorable day in weather history their team of meteorologists and hydrologists work around the clock to monitor and predict hazards like the two …
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April 30 - The 1997 Red River “Flood of the Century”
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The amount of water that this spring unleashed on the areas lining the river in this valley back in the spring of 1997 was enough for it to be labeled “The Flood Of The Century”! This covered over 2 thousand 500 square kilometres of land -- in water -- and that forced the evacuation of a staggering 28,000 people. Learn more about your ad choices. V…
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April 29 - Spring Flooding: Quebec’s Major Weather Event of 2019
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By the next day, April 30th, 2019... 9,070 homes and 273 businesses were flooded, and as a result there were now 12,000 people displaced. In the area affected, we also had 82 landslides linked to the flooding as well as the roads and highways I mentioned in the intro. In total, there were 310 municipalities across Quebec that were affected by the f…
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April 28 - Baseball Sized Hail at a Baseball Game!
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The hailstones ballooned to 2.75" (7cm) diameter which we term “baseball sized”. THIS system starting pitching baseball sized hail all around, before it crossed the Missouri River into St. Louis County. Meanwhile, about 100 people were injured and one person was killed when a tent collapsed on a crowd that was gathered outside Busch Stadium after a…
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April 27 - The 2008 Fort Albany Flooding & Evacuations
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On Sunday, April 27, 2008, residents of Fort Albany, a First Nations community primarily made up of women and children, were forced to flee what were now the worst floods since 1985. Because of the rapid ice breakup on the river they now had mighty ice flows racing down stream at a force that burst through the dikes, thrusting river water up, over …
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April 26 - The 1991 Deadly and Destructive "Andover F5"
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This outbreak would go on to result in 21 people being killed, 17 of which were from the Andover tornado. But the Wichita-Andover tornado was actually the 3rd in a series of 4 tornadoes that pushed through South Central KS. F5 damage also occurred across the southern part of Andover where large frame homes were demolished. Learn more about your ad …
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April 25 - 2015 Saw Mount Everest’s Deadliest Avalanche
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In the avalanche a cascade of snow, ice and rock raced down the mountain, through the populated area known as “base-camp” and in it at least twenty-two people were killed. This made this event the new deadliest disaster on the mountain. The 7.8 magnitude quake would be blamed for the death of more than 5,000 people, and the injuries suffered by an …
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April 24 - The 2018 Record New Brunswick Flooding
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Floods have been part of recorded history in New Brunswick for over 300 years. They date back as far as 1696, when the first written record told of a late, very high spring water level that delayed crop planting for the residents of a small French settlement at Jemseg. In 2018, The Saint John river overflowed its banks and water levels crested to o…
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April 23 - Ranger 4's 1962 Launch to "Shoot The Moon"
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On Monday, Apr. 23, 1962, NASA launched the Ranger 4 into space. The Ranger 4 spacecraft, was especially designed to collect data on interplanetary space, but more to the point it was to photograph the moon up close and make a rough landing on the lunar surface, this was for reconnaissance for a future manned mission there. Learn more about your ad…
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April 22 - 1970 and The First Ever Earth Day
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It was the brainchild of Wisconsin Senator, Gaylord Nelson who was an unabashed environmentalist whose hope was that by creating a lightning rod of attention he could create a rallying unity to grassroots environmental awareness. We can dream all we want of living on other planets but until we become a totally different species of human, dreaming i…
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April 21 - The 1998 "Rain-Out Triple Play" at Dodgers Stadium
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Legendary Dodger Stadium was built on top of the historic Los Angeles neighbourhood of Chavez Ravine in Solano Canyon. Get this, before the start of their 1976 season, the Dodgers were rained out only once, and that was against the St. Louis Cardinals, on April 21, 1967, ending a streak of 737 consecutive games without a postponement at that time. …
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April 20 - The 1996 Shock Ontario Tornado Outbreak
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On the 19th, there were seventeen F2 or greater tornadoes that touched down and that included a jaw-dropping ten in the state of Illinois alone. In Canada, the first tornado that touched down hit the ground running for a staggering 40 kilometres southeast of Owen Sound. A second tornado then touched down farther south and ripped for a 60 kilometre …
This was a multi alarm fire involving a total of 17 fire halls, two engine companies and one hose company. They came from stations as far away as Hamilton, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York, to help save Toronto. The glow of the fire could be seen for miles in all directions and it took close to nine hours to get under control. A mystery still surroun…
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April 18 -First Enhanced Fujita Scale Tornado in CDN History
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A twister touched down in a rural area locally and packed powerful 135 to 167 km/h wind speeds. It was now historical as the first to be recorded as an Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale tornado in Canadian history. And it was rated EF1. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Weather Network
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April 17 - The Alberta Blizzard Blitz in Centennial '67
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In some areas, after the full series, there was reported to have been as much as 175 cm of snow. What is that to you and me? That is also known as 5 feet 9 inches of snow!! Because these storms hit while we were getting later into April, many cattle were already out in the pastures. This was a big problem when you consider over 51/2 feet of snow an…
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April 16 - Ice Crashes Through Rogers Centre Roof from the CN Tower
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The entrance to the CN Tower and to the Rogers Centre were promptly closed and a section of sidewalk out front of the affected buildings was also closed off for all pedestrian traffic. The Rogers Centre was far from the only building to have been damaged in this, however. Damage from the ice was also reported to other surrounding buildings. Learn m…
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April 15 - THE most Intense Snowfall Ever in USA!
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The Denver Post reported that, with a total snowfall of almost a foot, along with around 45mm of mixing, of which it was primarily rain, it was reported that the April 14-15 storm was the second worst April blizzard since 1885. Because of the strong winds, the snow drifted to a depth of 7 feet (over 2 meters) in many parts of the metro. The storm w…
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April 14 - French Winegrowers Battle Frost for 2019 Vintage
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Following a frost alert on April 14, winemakers of Chassagne-Montrachet lit fires and heaters to fight the frost. As temperatures then dropped moderately below that 32 F threshold, with a relatively low humidity, luckily damage was limited. Yet, winemakers trying to limit frost damage on their vines employ a variety of heating techniques to keep th…
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April 13 - That CRAZY Easter Weekend 140-Tornado Outbreak
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It was widespread and it was deadly, the Easter weekend tornado outbreak that brutalized the Southeast US. Several tornadoes were ultimately responsible for triggering tornado emergency declarations, including the very first of its kind to be issued by the National Weather Service in Charleston, South Carolina. Throughout the two-day outbreak, a to…
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April 12 - 1981: The Space Shuttle Program (literally) Launches!
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The initial launch date was scheduled for April 10, 1981 and with the first launch of the Space Transportation System (STS), better known as the "space shuttle". The shuttle was humankind's first reusable spacecraft. The orbiter would launch like a rocket and land like a plane. The STS-1 crew consisted of Commander John W. Young and Pilot Bob Cripp…
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April 11 - 1970: Apollo 13 Launches to the Moon
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Aboard were astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert and Fred W. Haise. In the Hollywood film Tom Hanks portrayed Jim Lovell, Bill Paxon played Fred Haise and Kevin Bacon was John Swigert. Apollo 13, was to be the third lunar landing mission and all went well at the launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg…
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April 10 - The Most Extreme Wind Speed Ever Recorded
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Tropical Cyclone Olivia bore down on tiny Barrow Island, just off the coast of western Australia in April 1996. In this system was embedded a smaller-scale circulation within Olivia's eye-wall that produced five extreme 3-second wind gusts, the peak of which was a 253 mph gust on April 10!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho…
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April 9 - 1959: We Met Our First US Astronauts!!
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They would be known as the Mercury 7, all military test pilots, and carefully selected from a group of 32 candidates to take part in Project Mercury, America’s first manned space program. In January 1959, NASA began the astronaut selection procedure, screening the records of 508 military test pilots and choosing 110 candidates. Learn more about you…
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April 8 - The 2020 "Good News" Bridge Collapse in Italy
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At close to 10:30 in their morning this normally would have been mass chaos and the loss of life would have been staggering. Helicopter surveillance views of the area showed where sections of the bridge crossing the river Magra had fallen to the water, buckling a stretch of road behind it. This route was finished. Learn more about your ad choices. …
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April 7 - Widespread + Costly Ontario & Quebec Flood
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It was a three day event that produced significant rainfall that then led to flooding across parts of Eastern Canada. The majority of the damage was in Eastern Ontario and Quebec. The high water levels blurred the lines between rivers and land. Following the heavy rains, strong wind gusts downed trees and power lines across many areas of both provi…
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April 6 - High Winds Kill Thousands of Birds in Greece
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Between April 5-6, this day in weather history, thousands of swallows and swifts that had been migrating from Africa to Europe died in flight due to exceptionally strong winds in Greece, that they had to pass through on their migratory route north during the spring. The Greek wildlife protection group Anima, reported that the birds were being found…
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April 5 - The Shocking 1972 Portland-Vancouver Tornadoes
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It’s a fairly well-known fact that the Pacific Northwest isn’t in the conversation normally when discussing a “tornado alley”. In today’s event, there were 4 at once which is immediately unusual, but this outbreak was packing a deadly F3 tornado that struck Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. The last time a tornado of F3 strength occurred…
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April 4 - Killer 1974 Tornadoes Part 2: The Xenia, Ohio F5
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This was the first tornado outbreak in recorded history to produce more than 100 tornadoes within a 24-hour period. And that would not ever be bested for another 37 years in the US until the 2011 Super Outbreak. The 1974 outbreak caused widespread and extensive damage that spanned approximately 900 sq mi (2,331 km2) as it travelled a total combined…
