TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/charts/envi/wx91.001

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                                                                                The WEATHER of 1991

Highlights: In the United States 

Weatherwise Magazine - February-March  1992

By Doug LeComte


[DOUG LECOMTE is managing editor of the Weekly Weather and Crop
Bulletin of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.]

   Frequent record extremes of alternating hot and cold, wet
and dry, and out-of-season weather plagued and confused
Americans this year, as spring arrived in winter, summer in
spring, and winter in autumn.  Meanwhile a March "miracle"
relieved the California drought, thunderstorms and tornadoes
raged in the spring, oppressive heat dominated the summer, and
coastal storms battered the East Coast in the second half of the
year.

That California Drought

   The ongoing drought in California and adjacent western
states continued well into the 1990-1991 rainy season.
Persistent high pressure blocked Pacific storms that usually
bring precipitation to the coast; as a result California entered
its fifth consecutive season of below-normal rainfall.  The
statewide total from October through January was one-fourth of
normal, the lowest on record.  The water-supply outlook
deteriorated as the drought continued into February, and
hundreds of lakes and reservoirs reached record low levels.

   In late February, however, the blocking high-pressure ridge
aloft broke down, allowing the jet stream to transport Pacific
moisture to the coast.  Los Angeles' 2.17 inches of rain on
February 27 was a date record and one of the highest daily
totals in over four years.  It was also just the opening shot
of a series of storms that dumped heavy rain and snow from
February 27 through March 5.  During this time, 2- to 5-inch
rainfalls were widespread over the state, and even more fell in
the mountains. Other moisture surges crossed the coast through
late March, accompanied by high winds, tornadoes, heavy rains,
floods, and mountain snows.

   When the month ended, the "March Miracle" rains had brought
monthly totals of between 150 and 550 percent of normal across
the state, including 12.33 inches at Santa Barbara.  Snowfall
for the month totaled over 180 inches at Alpine Meadows in the
Sierras, where the snowpack soared from 14 percent of normal on
February 27 to about 75 percent by April 1.  Reservoir levels,
though improved, still remained below normal, so the long-term
problem was not solved, but the wettest March since 1983 did
help Californians avoid severe water shortages for the time
being.

A Warm Winter

   Residents of the eastern United States, especially skiers,
will remember this as a mild winter with few snowstorms.  In
the Northeast, it was the ninth warmest winter
(December-February) since records began in 1895.  February even
had a "heat wave" early in the month, when temperatures from the
northern Plains to New England were positively spring-like.
Temperatures for the week of February 3-9 averaged up to 33
degrees above normal, with 168 maximum temperature records set
or equaled, including a balmy 70 degrees (F) at Washington,
D.C., on the 4th.

Spring Storms and Heat

   It was extraordinarily wet in the South this year,
particularly across the southern Mississippi Valley.  As a
harbinger of things to come, January rainfall totals ranged
from 12 to 20 inches from east Texas to southern Georgia and
northern Florida.  Slidell, Louisiana, measured a record 21.84
inches.

   Wet and warm weather persisted across much of the country
through the spring.  Nationally, it was the seventh warmest May
on record, the seventh consecutive warm spring, and the seventh
warmest January-May period.  March was also the start of an
extremely active storm season in the central states and lower
Mississippi Valley, as moist air from the Gulf of Mexico
battled cool, drier air from the north and west.  The tornado
count for March exceeded 150, while the spring total (March-May)
approached 700, over twice the average.  On one particularly
brutal day -- April 9 -- over 400 locations from Mississippi to
New York reported large hail or wind damage; there were 37
tornadoes on this day alone.  On April 26, up to 70 tornadoes
took a score of lives and caused widespread property damage from
Texas to Iowa.

   One reason for the rash of severe weather was the unusually
warm weather covering the East.  From April 5 to 9,
temperatures from the north central states to the Northeast
soared into the 80s and 90s.  On April 8, the thermometer in New
York's Central Park reached 90 degrees (F) earlier than ever.
Three days before, it was a record 80 degrees (F) at
Minneapolis-St. Paul.  In keeping with the volatile nature of
spring weather in the Great Plains, snow fell on the Twin Cities
just three days later.

   In the east north-central region, which comprises the western
Corn Belt, farmers watched their fields turn into ponds during
the planting season.  Spring rainfall totals were the highest
in more than 90 years in this region and the second highest in
the Southeast.

   The deluge extended southward to the Gulf Coast.  In one week
in early April, northwestern Louisiana measured 16-20 inches of
rain, flooding hundreds of homes.  The wet weather continued to
plague the lower Mississippi Valley for much of the year.  In
New Orleans, up to 10 inches of rain fell on June 10, leaving
streets choked with two feet of water and stalled vehicles.
The city's remarkable total of 71 inches for the first six
months of the year was greater than the normal for an entire
year.  By the end of August, when the year-to-date total
exceeded 92 inches, the annual rainfall record had already been
broken.  The final annual total of more than 100 inches was one
of the highest amounts ever recorded in any major American city.

   Paced by the blistering heat at the end of the month, this
May was the hottest one ever for many states in the East.
During May 22-31, temperatures rose into the 90s from the Ohio
Valley eastward to the coast and as far north as New England.
Baltimore recorded 96 degrees (F) on May 31 with summer still
officially three weeks away.

Record Summer Heat and Dryness

   In June, the heat was not limited to the lower 48 states.
On the 21st, Umiat in the far northern interior of Alaska
recorded an all-time high of 88 degrees (F).  In central Alaska,
the mercury soared to the mid-90s.

   On June 16, Philadelphia set a June record of 100 degrees
(F).  Not to be left out, Denver matched Philly with its own 100
degrees (F) reading on June 25.  Stifling heat and humidity
covered the East the last three days of June, with Boston
registering a record-tying 97 degrees (F) on the 28th.

   In July, more records fell to the unrelenting heat on both
coasts.  On the 3rd, Pasco, Washington, recorded 113 degrees
(F), while Death Valley, California, simmered at 125 degrees
(F).  The next day, Sacramento celebrated Independence Day with
a record 110 degrees (F) and Redding clocked in with 114 degrees
(F).  Severe thunderstorms broke one heat wave in the East on
July 8, but the worst spell of oppressive weather for the
Midwest and East became established by mid-month and continued
until about July 23.  During this period, temperatures exceeded
100 degrees (F) in the central Plains, Midwest, mid- Atlantic,
and the Northeast.

   Dozens of records were set.  Bismarck, North Dakota, hit 104
degrees (F) on July 17.  The 93 degrees (F) mark set in Sault
Ste. Marie, Michigan, on the 18th was the highest there since
the summer of 1988.  Chicago hit 101 degrees (F) on the 22nd,
while Salina, Kansas, wilted under 109 degrees (F) heat.
Caribou, Maine, normally a stranger to extreme heat, saw 95
degrees (F) on both July 19 and 20, the warmest readings in 14
years.  On July 21, Hartford, Connecticut, observed its third
consecutive day of triple-digit temperatures, reaching 101
degrees (F).  On the same day, Providence recorded its warmest
July reading ever with 102 degrees (F).  Danbury, Connecticut's
reading of 103 degrees (F) was its fifth consecutive day above
100 degrees (F). Meanwhile, high humidity pushed "apparent"
temperatures dangerously high (near 110 degrees (F) throughout
the mid-Atlantic states.

   Despite the June floods in parts of Iowa, the summer heat
contributed to drought in southeast Iowa and parts of Illinois,
Indiana, Ohio, and the mid-Atlantic region.  With cumulative
June-July rainfall as little as 40 percent of normal in prime
crop regions of the Corn Belt, national corn yields dropped 8
percent from year-ago levels.  For Moline, Illinois, the summer
(June-August) rainfall of 3.79 inches was the lowest since 1886.

   National wheat yields fell 13 percent from 1990 levels.  The
Pacific Northwest freeze in December 1990, drought in the
central Plains early in 1991, and excessive spring wetness in
the Mississippi Valley all diminished the winter wheat crop.
August brought some relief from dryness in the Midwest and the
East, but not from the heat.  At Washington, D.C., with 26 days
of 95 degrees (F) heat, the May-August period was the warmest
since records began more than a century ago.  Philadelphia's
mean summer (June- August) temperature of 77.9 degrees (F) was
also the highest since records began there in 1873.

A Fluctuating Fall

   A heat wave covered the eastern two-thirds of the country
September 13-17, establishing dozens of daily record highs.  On
September 16, thermometers hit 90 degrees (F) for the 38th time
this year in New York City and the 52nd time in Philadelphia.
Thankfully, this was the last large-scale episode of oppressive
heat east of the Rockies.

   The first taste of winter came immediately thereafter, as a
polar air mass drove south from Canada into the central states.
Duluth's 2-inch snowfall on the 18th was its earliest and
greatest September snowfall.  Widespread freezing temperatures
covered the western Corn Belt on September 19 and 20, reminding
farmers of the damaging freeze that struck the region around
the same time in 1974.  Nearly four dozen daily record lows
were broken on the 19th, with two dozen more the next day.  In
Nebraska, Valentine's temperature of 17 degrees (F) on the 19th
broke the 100-year-old record by 10 degrees.  Peoria, Illinois,
had its first summer freeze ever on the 20th.  Though the cold
damaged soy-beans in Iowa and Minnesota, the national impact was
minor.

   Hot and dry weather plagued the Pacific states from September
until late October.  Seattle went through the entire month of
September without measurable rainfall.  At the Los Angeles Civic
Center, the thermometer on October 10 registered 107 degrees (F)
on October 11, had four consecutive record highs, October 9-12.
The heat and dryness contributed to numerous fires.  In
mid-October, fires in Spokane, Washington, destroyed more than
100 homes.  Dry weather and strong winds fueled one of this
country's worst-ever urban blazes in California on October 19
and 20.  The flames raged across Oakland and parts of Berkeley,
killing 25 people and destroying 3,000 homes and apartments.

A Halloween Winter

   By October 28, the high-pressure ridge responsible for the
heat and dryness in the West broke down, allowing an entirely
new weather regime to dominate.  For two weeks beginning on
that date, the central third of the country experienced
unprecedented cold for this time of the year as a series of
arctic air masses barreled southward out of Canada into the
Great Plains.  On the 28th, the first subzero readings of the
season hit the Plains states, up to 8 inches of snow fell over
Nebraska and winds gusted to 60 m.p.h. in South Dakota.  On
October 29, Havre, Montana, broke its daily record by 6 degrees
when the temperature plummeted to -21 degrees (F).  A major
snowstorm left a mantle of white from Colorado to Minnesota on
November 1-2.  The 28 inches of snow that fell on
Minneapolis-St. Paul set the all-time record for a single storm.
On November 3, Pueblo, broke its old temperature record by 28
degrees when the thermometer registered -17 degrees (F).  By
November 4, severe cold stretched southward to Louisiana and
eastward to Ohio, breaking or equaling at least 104 minimum
temperature records.  On November 4-9, Peoria, Illinois, set six
consecutive record lows, including 5 degrees (F) on November 8.

   Few, if any, weather events in recent years have had such a
profound impact on the historical record as this cold outbreak.
From October 28 through November 11, over 640 daily record lows
were set or tied throughout the eastern three-quarters of the
country.

   Though weather conditions moderated somewhat after November
11, unusual cold and snow visited the Rockies and Plains
several more times this month.  With another big snowstorm
striking Minnesota at the end of November, the season snow total
at Minneapolis-St. Paul stood at  55 inches on November 30.
Before winter even officially began, beleaguered residents of
the Twin Cities had seen more snow than they usually see in an
entire year.

East Coast Storms

   Hurricane Bob, which developed over the northern Bahamas,
struck eastern Long Island and New England on Monday afternoon,
August 19.  Though Block Island recorded gusts to 125 m.p.h.,
winds were about half that in Providence and Boston, both of
which were close to the storm's path.  Bob brought significant
damage from New York to Maine, with estimated damage costs near
$1.5 billion.  The storm brought record rains to Maine, with
7.83 inches setting an all-time 24-hour record in Portland.
With earlier heavy showers contributing to its high totals,
Portland also had the wettest month (15.22 inches) and the
wettest 12 months ever.

   The enormous coastal storm that lashed the East Coast more
than two months later may have been more damaging to coastal
areas than Hurricane Bob.  This major Atlantic "Nor'easter"
battered the coast from North Carolina to Maine from October 29
through November 1 with storm-force winds and extremely high
tides.  Atlantic City, New Jersey, recorded its second highest
tide ever on October 31 (9 feet above mean low tide).  The only
higher tide of record (9.3 feet) was associated with the 1944
hurricane, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts all declared
state disasters for their coasts.  Another Nor'easter affected
the East Coast on November 9, causing additional damage to
beach areas.

Year-End Rains

   The year ended with major flooding in Texas, as a
slow-moving storm unleashed furious rains on the southern Plains
from December 17 to 22.  Most of eastern Oklahoma and central
and eastern Texas measured 3-12 inches of rain, only to get
additional rain between December 25 and 27.  The wide-spread
Texas flooding, which continued into January 1992, killed at
least 15 people and caused over $75 million damage.

   Heavy rains striking California in late December were more
beneficial. Pacific storms from December 27 to 29 dropped 0.5
to 3 inches or more of rain across the state, adding needed
water to reservoirs depleted by the long-term drought.  The
accumulation of up to 48 inches of snow in the Sierra Nevada was
especially good for 1992's water outlook.


Source: Weatherwise Magazine, February-March, 1992.