1950: The Great Appalachian Storm

This Date in Weather History

On November 25, 1950, one of the greatest November storms in recorded North American History blasted the eastern half of the United States and Canada with unprecedented early season snow and cold, paralyzing the region for more than a week and causing untold damage and suffering. Cold air had been scarce in the lower 48 states in November, but was building to prodigious proportions across the artic. It was unleased southward in a bitter blast that would even be extreme in the depths of winter let along November. Caused by a huge wave action high in the atmosphere in the jet stream those high-level winds plunged southward right out of the Yukon. On the eastern side of the continent the wave action cut off into a swirling ball of winds that spawned a monster storm. Known as The Great Appalachian Storm, it achieved the region's greatest sustained wind force when gales continued at many points for 12 hours or more. At coastal cities, such as Newark and Boston, single minute speeds in excess of 80 mph were registered. Peak gusts were recorded of 110 mph at Concord, NH, 108 mph at Newark, NJ, and 100 mph at Hartford, CT. Atop Mt. Washington a wind gust hit 160 mph from the SE early on the 26th. Central Park in the heart of sheltered Manhattan Island set an 80-year record with fastest mile of 70 mph. There were 34 deaths across New York State. Heavy flooding rains along coast. The snowfalls were equally as extreme almost 28” in Pittsburgh. Toronto had its greatest one-day November snowfall of a foot and in Steubenville Ohio snow piled up to a depth of more than 36” – 3 feet! Roads were blocked and roofs collapsed. Just behind the storm came some of the coldest temperature of the winter. Both Louisville, Kentucky and Nashville, Tennessee dipped to 1 below zero the earliest below zero reading on record. In Atlanta the mercury dropped to 2 above, and despite sunshine the afternoon high temperature only reached 17.

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