1635 |
The Great Colonial Hurricane sweeps across southern New England on a path west of Providence, Rhode Island, and Plymouth, Massachusetts. Narragansett Bay floods, drowning 17 Native Americans; tree damage is severe throughout southeastern Massachusetts. Governor William Bradford described the storm: "such a mighty storm of wind and rain as none living in these parts, either English or Indian ever saw. ...It blew down sundry houses and uncovered others. ...It blew down many hundred thousands of trees turning up the stronger by the roots and breaking the higher pine trees off in the middle." |
1803 |
After a fire in New Hampshire, the United States Congress offers disaster relief aid for the first time. This legislation will eventually lead to the formation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. |
1815 |
The Gale of 1815 sweeps across New England, again flooding Providence, Rhode Island, and causing immense losses along the coast and in the shipping industry. |
1842 |
James P. Espy is named the government's first official meteorologist. |
1869 |
A Mr. Saxby foresees a "severe storm" and soon thereafter, by coincidence, a hurricane lashes Eastern Maine and the Bay of Fundy. This is the last major tropical system to cross the New England coast as a destructive hurricane until the 1938 Hurricane. It is named Saxby's Gale. |
1870 |
February 9: President Ulysses S. Grant orders the secretary of war to record weather observations from sites across the United States. In 1873 reports are added from posts in the Caribbean that allow for better forecasts of hurricanes. |
1890 |
October 1: Congress passes legislation changing the Army Signal Corps weather forecasting operation into a civilian service, the Weather Bureau, within the Department of Agriculture. |
1893 |
Six hurricanes hit the United States in one year, killing a total of 4,000 people. |
1900 |
 September 8: A hurricane hits Galveston, then the wealthiest city in Texas, leaving between 6,000 and 8,000 residents dead. This is still the worst weather disaster in American history, as measured in lost lives.
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1906 |
 April 18: An earthquake in San Francisco is followed by four days of a devastating fire. An estimated 3,000 lives are lost and damage is estimated at $500,000,000 in 1906 dollars.
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1910 |
March 1: An avalanche at Wellington, northeast of Seattle, Washington, sweeps two trains -- a mail train and a passenger train -- off a mountain pass through the Cascades, killing 96 people. |
1925 |
March 18: A tornado touches down in Missouri and sweeps through Illinois and Indiana before dissipating. In three hours, the Tri-State Tornado kills 695 people. |
1926 |
September 18: The "Big Blow" crashes into the nation's hottest vacation spot, Miami Beach, Florida, surprising residents who have ignored forecasts. In the aftermath, the lobbies of prestigious Collins Avenue hotels are covered in sand, 253 people are dead, and at least 25,000 people are left homeless. |
1928 |
After devastating Puerto Rico, a ferocious storm whips ashore at Palm Beach, Florida. Rain from the hurricane fills Lake Okeechobee, Florida, causing major flooding. In the storm's aftermath, 1836 people are dead. |
1935 |
 September 2: The most intense Category 5 Atlantic hurricane ever to touch down in the United States roars into the Florida Keys. The "Great Labor Day Hurricane" kills 408 people.
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