TODAY  Version 3.7   06/24/94       Copyright 1986, 1994  By Patrick Kincaid   
      
    Today is Saturday  February 20, 2016.   
    This is the 51st day of the year, there are 315 days left.   
      
    On this day...   
       Weather data after 1990 is PARTIAL. For more current   
       weather history, go to the National Climate Data Center   
       website at www.ncdc.noaa.gov   
       In 1805 The Potomac River was opened after being closed by ice   
               for two months.   
       In 1898 Eastern Wisconsin experienced their biggest snowstorm of   
               record.  Racine received thirty inches, and drifts around   
               Milwaukee measured fifteen feet high.   
       In 1953 A snowstorm in Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota   
               produced drifts ten feet high which derailed trains.   
       In 1985 A lightning strike in St. George, Kansas was so bright,   
               students at a school 2 blocks away thought lights had been   
               turned on and off.   
       In 1987 A storm system over Arizona spread heavy snow from the   
               Southern Rockies into the Southern Plains Region.   
               Thunderstorms in central Texas produced golf ball size   
               hail about the same time north central Texas was being   
               blanketed with up to 8 inches of snow, closing many   
               schools.   
       In 1988 Snow and strong northerly winds ushered arctic air into   
               the Great Lakes Region.  The temperature at Sault Ste   
               Marie MI plunged from 30 degrees at 5 AM to one below   
               zero by 3 PM, with a wind chill reading of 40 degrees   
               below zero.  Five cities in Florida reported record high   
               temperatures for the date.  The high of 90 degrees at   
               Lakeland was just a degree shy of their February record.   
       In 1989 Thunderstorms developing during the early afternoon   
               produced severe weather from eastern Texas to Alabama and   
               northwest Florida.  Thunderstorms spawned a dozen   
               tornadoes during the afternoon and evening.  Thunder-   
               storms also produced 90 mph winds around Vicksburg MS,   
               and 100 mph winds around Jackson MS.   
       In 1990 Heavy snow spread into southwestern Kansas and the   
               panhandle region of Oklahoma and Texas.  Heavier snowfall   
               totals included 12 inches at Boise City OK, 11 inches at   
               Liberal KS, and 10 inches at Spearman TX.  Blowing and   
               drifting snow closed roads in the Oklahoma panhandle.   
       In 2013 (20th-23rd) A major winter storm provided a wide variety   
               of weather from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast. Kansas,   
               Nebraska, Iowa, north Oklahoma, and north Missouri...east   
               into the Ohio Valley, were dealing with heavy snow. Central   
               and south Oklahoma, south Missouri, north and central   
               Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee...were dealing with an   
               ice storm. South Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi,   
               Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas, dealt with   
               severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. In Arkansas (on the   
               21st), widespread quarter to half ice accumulations were in   
               the northern two to three rows of counties. Parts of the   
               northeast had more than a half inch of ice, including   
               Batesville (Independence County). While there were   
               thousands of power outages, this did not come close to the   
               devastation caused by the Ice Storm of January, 2009.   
               Freezing rain was accompanied by thunder in many cases.   
               Some storms in the southern half of the state became   
               severe, with quarter to half dollar size hail in East   
               Camden (Ouachita County), near Pinebergen (Jefferson   
               County) and in southwest Little Rock (Pulaski County). On   
               the 20th, while there was some light freezing rain in   
               places, snow made headlines in the west. Up to 4 inches of   
               snow piled up at Fort Smith (Sebastian County) and near   
               Alma (Crawford County). Two to three inch amounts were   
               common around Clarksville (Johnson County) and Paris (Logan   
               County). In the wake of the storm, roads were generally in   
               pretty good shape. Warm ground temperatures kept roads   
               mostly wet. However, bridges and overpasses were icy where   
               readings were subfreezing. Also with the storms, lightning   
               struck a church in Arkadelphia (Clark County), destroying   
               the steeple, and damaging the roof...and lightning also   
               struck a home near Hot Springs (Garland County). The storm   
               moved into the northeast U.S. on the 23rd, bringing snow   
               to areas hit by earlier blizzards, and from Hurricane   
               Sandy in September, 2012.   
               less than a month (26 days). This took the seasonal total   
               to 98.7 inches, making it the second snowiest on record   
               behind the 107.6 inches of snow in the winter of 1995/1996.   
               Dozens of roofs collapsed under the weight of the snow.   
      
      
   --- GTMail 1.26    
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - wx1der.dyndns.org - GT Power 20 (1:19/33.0)