History

  • The History Channel has an excellent retrospective on the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, which occurred on June 6, 1944.  The weather forecast for that event was crucial in making it a success.  You might enjoy reading about it and watching some video at https://www.history.com/news/the-weather-forecast-that-saved-d-day.  USA Today also had a feature about this in 2014 which…

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  • Back in June 2001, Tropical Storm Allison dropped immense amounts of rain across Texas before the remains of the storm moved slowly across the Southeast, causing flooding and damage from tornadoes across a wide swath of the eastern US.  As with many tropical storms, winds were not the main impact of the storm–instead the heavy…

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  • Today marks the 5 year anniversary of the incredibly deadly Joplin MO tornado.  Over 150 people died in that storm alone, and in the outbreak that included it, an unprecedented 1,691 tornadoes claimed 553 lives in all.  NOAA has published two documents describing the storm outbreaks. NOAA has put together a photo book of the outbreaks…

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  • In preparation for an interview next week, I am reading “The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl.”  It’s a great book, and I am enjoying it.  I was struck this morning by a description of the dust storms of mid-May, 1934 (82 years ago this week),…

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  • Today in weather history marks the anniversary of the Mother’s Day tornado outbreak in Georgia in 2008.  At least two people were killed in the storms, which hit north and central Georgia.  You can read more about the storms from the National Weather Service Office in Peachtree City, which created the map below, and see…

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  • Smithsonian had an interesting article this week on a long-term source of proxy climate data that was collected by Japanese priests monitoring the ice conditions on Lake Suwa.  As the lake froze each year, the priests recorded the time of development and the orientation of a ridge of ice that built up as the lake…

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  • I stopped at Providence Canyon State Park near Lumpkin GA on my way home from a school field day in Cuthbert GA on Friday.  The park is located south of Columbus on the west-central edge of the state.  It is now billed as one of Georgia’s seven natural wonders, with layers of pink and white…

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