In late February 2007 arctic cold had most of the western half of nation in its’ grip, at the same time warm and humid weather covered the eastern states. It was a classic set up of a clash of air masses, that usually results in a violent weather outcome. By the early morning of March 1st a powerful storm was organizing in the southern Rockies. That system would take a track across New Mexico and Oklahoma and then head toward the Ohio Valley. Snow began to fly in the central Rockies and then it headed out into the plans states. That strong storm brought blizzard conditions to Nebraska. Omaha had a foot a snow with 58 mph winds that reduced visibility to less than half a mile. Snowfall extended north and east with a foot and a half of the white stuff in parts of Iowa and a foot or more from Minnesota and South Dakota all the way to Michigan. Further south, where warm air held sway, severe thunderstorms brought hail and deadly tornadoes. Fifteen people were killed when a tornado hit Enterprise High School in Alabama, and two were killed when a tornado hit Americus, Georgia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For folks suffering in the throes of a harsh winter thoughts often turn to warmer climates and the dream of laying out on the beaches of Hawaii. In fact, the normal high temperature on February 27 is close to 80 in Honolulu. But there are high mountains on the Hawaiian Islands, 3 volcanic peaks extend well above 9,000 and because temperatures can drop as much as 5 ½ degrees for every 1000 feet of elevation that’s a difference from the ground at sea level to that 9,000-foot elevation of about 50 degrees. So that normal 80 for a high temperature can be 30 or even colder. When storms strike in the rainy, winter season from December to February, snow and ice can accumulate on the mountains and even though the snow doesn’t stay around too long it can certainly keep those peaks white. In fact, some adventurous Hawaiians even try their hand at skiing. Such a winter event occurred of February 27, 1997, when several inches of snow fell on the highest summits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The winter of 1645 had been relatively mild across New England. Population growth of European settlers in the region had been slow with only 3,000 living in the area in 1630. But by 1640 14,000 lived in the region and mild winter had encouraged more to come from England and other European lands and by 1645 close to 20,000 where spreading through the area. By February 26 some thought they might get through the winter with no real harsh weather. But it was not to be. A storm churning up the Atlantic seaboard dumped several feet of snow across the region on February 26, 1645. With little to help clean up the snow or for that matter pack down the snow, so sleighs and sleds could glide over the snow, it was reported that travel was virtually impossible for 3 weeks. Courts and public meetings where suspended to almost the end of March. That winter storm or other harsh winters did nothing to deter more settlers and by 1680 almost 70,000 Europeans or their descendants occupied New England. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On February 23, 1802 a great snowstorm raged across New England, by nightfall when the snow stopped flying, drifts in places near Boston piled up to 4 feet high. In those early days of the republic how did people get around in cities? How were the streets cleaned? According to Marketplace.org; before the mid-1800s, there wasn’t really any effort to get snow off roads. Before 1862, people didn’t use snow plows, they used snow rollers. The way people travelled through snow was by attaching skis to their horse-drawn carts and carriages. Snow rollers were huge, horse-drawn wheels that would flatten out the snow, making it easier for the carts with skis to move on the winter roads. But by the mid-19th century, as cities were rapidly growing in population, city streets needed to be entirely clear of snow for the business of the city to continue. And with this, came snow plows, first used by the city of Milwaukee in 1862. Early snow plows were horse-drawn, and would deposit the compacted snow in huge piles on the city’s streets and sidewalks. Not all cities used plows though. Some just used shovels. In New York, clearing the snow was the responsibility of the Police Department and officers would have to shovel. On February 23, 1802 in Boston, people where then left to fend for themselves in dealing with a massive snowstorm and it took more than a week to literally dig out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Fog and low clouds have been the bane of travelers since the beginning of time. As more people travel in groups and because of modern technology those going from place to place sometimes find themselves at the mercy of the low clouds and fog with no way to escape. From the recent tragic helicopter crash involving Kobe Bryant and his companions to a pile up of cars on an interstate highways, low visibility or lack of visibility at all, contributes to the horrible outcome. Despite the best efforts of those involved and modern technology, sudden loss of visibility can, in an instant, turn clear skies to total lack of vision. Those traveling the interstates of the northeast near snow squall areas know this well when white-outs occur and lead to massive pile ups. This type of event can also happen on the seas and especially near the coastline. Such a tragedy struck on February 22 1901 when a Pacific mail steamer struck a rock in near San Francisco as it attempted to enter the bay during a dense fog, visibility was almost zero and those piloting the ship where unable to see where they were headed. The ship went down claiming 128 lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Pineapple Express is a non-technical term for a meteorological phenomenon characterized by a strong and persistent flow of moisture and associated with heavy rain and snow from the waters near the Hawaiian Islands and extending to locations along the Pacific coast of North America, mainly California. Such weather patterns set up every few years during the winter, the winter is the rainy season on the west coast of the US. In February of 1980 an extreme version of this pattern set up and lasted for almost a week reaching its height on February 19. Rain had been falling in Los Angles since February 13th, in the first in a series of storms pushed along by the Pineapple Express. Downtown L.A. recorded more than 12" of rain from the 13th to the 19th. In the mountains south of Monterey, more than 22 inches of rain totaled by the 19th. Unofficially, 19 deaths were attributed to the storms in Southern California alone, with more than $100 million in damage, $325 million in 2022 dollars. Estimates in Arizona indicate at least 4 storm related deaths and an additional $35 million in damage. There was also flooding in Arizona, especially in Phoenix. Shortly after 2:00 PM on February 19, 1980 a tornado touched down at the Fresno Airport, which broke the plate glass windows and damaged the roof at the terminal building. Trees were uprooted and cars overturned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A massive storm developed in Georgia, on February 18th, 2016 spreading snow up the Appalachians and into New England. Blizzard conditions developed in Pennsylvania by the 19th. These conditions forced a closing of Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania. Winds clocked at up to 50 mph during the storm shipped snow into drifts as deep as 20 feet in some sections of north Central Pennsylvania. Drifting snow stranded thousands of motorists, as radio stations remained at full power during the night relaying information and requesting help from 4-wheel drive vehicles and snowmobiles. Tides of 6-8' above normal caused severe flooding at coastal areas along the east coast north of Virginia. Thousands became homeless in New England due to coastal flooding. Breakers moved 8-ton concrete seawall blocks in across coastal roadways in Maine. Winds clocked to 110 mph at Eastham on Cape Cod. This massive storm said to have some hurricane characteristics, such as an eye. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

February 16, 1958 marked the end of a massive snowstorm that had developed in the lower Mississippi Valley a few days earlier. The system moved slowly eastward all day on the 14th gathering moisture from the Gulf of Mexico rain fell along the Gulf Coast with increasing intensity. Just as the storm was moving into position to turn up the eastern seaboard an injection of bitter arctic air moved out of eastern Canada and down the coast settling as far south and North Carolina. As the storm moved northward snow began falling on the 14th in southern Virginia and by the time night fell Washington DC was already shut down, by the morning of the 16th already more than a foot of snow was on the ground in DC.. 2’ pf snow clogged Boston by the evening of the 16 with an incredible 30-36” from the Catskills in New York to the White Mountains of New England. After the storm moved out to sea later that night the toll was staggering; 43 had died and more than $500 million dollars of destruction, more than $4.5 billion in today’s dollars was totaled. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Texas Gulf coast is known for hot steamy weather and has been the site of some of the most destructive and deadly hurricanes ever to strike the United States, but on February 15, 1895 a weather extreme of another sort struck the region. In the days leading up to the February 15th artic cold plunged into the south with a vengeance. At the same time a storm was spinning inland in southern California. The cold weather was firmly established by the 14th and that western storm was forced southward into northern Mexico. It set the scene for the greatest snowfall event to ever hit the Gulf coast. Snow began to fall in some places on the evening of the 14th and by the time it stopped in the afternoon of February 15, 1895 record snowfall was measured from Texas to Alabama: Rayne, Louisiana recorded 22" a state record; Houston, also had, 22"; an incredible 15.4” fell on the beaches of Galveston, Texas, there was 8.2” in New Orleans, Louisiana, 6” in Brownsville, Texas and Mobile, Alabama. All land travel came to a halt for days and the extreme cold and snow killed many livestock. No accurate accounting of the impact on the people of the region was recorded, but estimates are than many perished in the cold and snow that was more usual for the northern plains states. Most homes had inadequate heating and people attempted to heat their homes with fires inside and that led to further disaster. The scale of winter weather was unprecedented. Nothing like it has been seen since. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On February 14, 1958 in Haleyville, AL 16” of snow fell, an extreme snow event for that area of the country. Because of the snow’s high water equivalent, that is the total water content of the snow, the weight was extremely heavy and it caused many chicken coops in the poultry region to collapse leading to the crushing of many of the chickens inside. The coops were not constructed to withstand the heavy wet snow that fell, since the entire average winter’s snowfall in the region was a mere 1-2”. Following the snow storm many chicken coops in the poultry rich region where rebuilt to higher standards. In the north, chicken coop building standards have been and remain much more sturdy due to snowfall. In addition in many places housing poultry that don’t need coops, foul are kept in wire cages. The only impact is that when snow is heavy enough people must be called out to knock the snow off the wire confinements.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

By February 13, 1899 much of the nation had been suffering under the icy grip of the worst arctic outbreak since the founding of the republic. Records that stand even to today had been set in the days previous to February 13, 1899 and more were to fall in the next few days. Because of the persistent week-long cold, Ice flows had formed in Gulf of Mexico causing a hazard to navigation. The temperature on the morning of February 13, 1899 along the Gulf coast sat at incredibly low readings; -16 degrees Minden, LA a record for state, in New Orleans the mercury was 6.8 degrees; at in Mobile -1 degree; Pensacola 7 degrees; Brownsville Texas was 12 degrees an all time low for the city. Temperatures all the way southward to Ft Myers were in the 20s and snowflakes where observed all across Florida. But father up the East Coast the brunt of the outbreak was being felt as a Great Blizzard paralyzed the region on the 13th and 14th: 36" of snow fell at Cape May, New Jersey. 20.5" at Washington, D.C. and many other areas along the coast saw snowfall totals at more than a foot. The cold finally broke in the following days, after a week of misery, and with the warmup came several inches of rain that on top of melting snow produced flooding in the Northeast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

February 1899 marked the arrival of perhaps the coldest airmass in move into the United States in recorded history. For more than a week the bitter arctic cold ravaged North America with Blizzards and ice. Records were established that hold even today more than century later. By February 12, 1899 the cold was already firmly established. In previous days the mercury had already dipped to minus 20 in Columbus and Pittsburgh. The day before on the 11th parts of Montana had seen temperatures below minus 60. In Tallahassee 2 below was recorded, a state of Florida record that still stands today. A foot and a half of snow had not only fallen in Philadelphia and Baltimore, but Richmond and Raleigh. By February 12 the storm was in full swing, in Boston winds gusted to 65 mph and maintained an average of 50 mph throughout the entire day. 24-36" of snow just north of Boston in Beverly. The Boston Herald declared: "Rarely, if ever, has Boston been so completely snowbound as it has been by this blizzard." At the end of the storm, the snow depth measured 23" in Boston. But the snow extended far southward bringing unheard of snow totals including 4 in Charleston SC and 2.8” in Tallahassee. The cold persisted well behind the storm, Tulia, Texas recorded a morning temperature of minus 23, a state record. The arctic grip was not lessening, far from it, some places would suffer even more from the cold in coming days. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

February 11, 1994 dawned cold across the Tennessee Valley, an air mass that originated in the arctic snow fields of the Yukon had in previous days blasted across the northern plains state and by the 11th had settled into much of the nation east of the Rockies. Far to the south a storm was brewing on the Texas Gulf coast and pulling plenty of moisture northward out ahead of it. The cold air was holding on stubbornly in the lowest several thousand feet of the atmosphere in the Tennessee and Ohio valleys even as it began to warm up higher up in the air. As the moisture form the Gulf of Mexico was forced to rise up and over that cold layer of air near the ground it began to rain – but with temperatures still well below freezing at the surface the rain froze on everything. The result was Severe ice storm across parts of Tennessee, Alabama, and much of Kentucky. 1.45" of rain fell at Memphis --all with a temperature below freezing. Power was knocked out in many areas as ice accumulated on tree limbs and wires. In some cases, power was not restored for as much as 2 weeks. As the storm turned northward and into deeper cold air snow broke out on a wide front along the I-95 corridor and dumped heavy snow reaching depths of close to 1-2’ from Harrisburg and Allentown Pa into New England, including New York City, snar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Calama, Chile is one of the driest cities in the world with average annual precipitation of just 0.20”. Located on the Atacama Desert, a plateau in South America. The desert is one of the driest places in the world, as well as the only true desert to receive less precipitation than polar regions. In many locations in the desert it rains but once every 10 years and then in small amounts. But on February 10,1972 a torrential downpour depositing several inches of rain caused catastrophic floods and landslides, isolating the town and cutting off electricity. Prior to this event, the town had been known as THE driest place on earth, having had virtually no rain for 400 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Citrus, namely oranges have been farmed commercially in Florida groves since the early 1800s. The first citrus was brought to the Western Hemisphere in 1493 by Christopher Columbus. In the mid-1500s one of the early Spanish explorers, most likely Ponce de Leon, planted the first orange trees around the current location of St. Augustine, Florida. Florida's unique sandy soil and subtropical climate proved to be ideal for growing the seeds that the early settlers planted and have flourished ever since. Today it is a $9 billion industry, employing nearly 76,000 Floridians. In 1835 the citrus industry was just getting on it’s feet, but it almost ended before it got going. On February 8, 1835 a bitter cold arctic blast reached into the southern part of the United States and produced low temperatures unknown in that region. The mercury reached below zero as far south as Savannah Georgia and on the morning of February 8 the temperature read 8 degrees in Jacksonville killing most of the orange trees and setting back the citrus industry more than 10 years. The first groves were originally planted in northern Florida far from where they currently exist. As time went on and more killing freezes occurred the groves were moved further and further south and are now hundreds of miles south of their original loculation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

February 6, 2010 marked the culmination of a coast to coast storm that brought parts of the Central United States snow and ice and snarled traffic and caused flight delays for the days leading up to the 6th. As the storm approached the East Coast on the afternoon of February 5, 2010 snow started to fall along the I-95 corridor in the Mid-Atlantic region. Already warned of the impending storm airlines had cancelled hundreds of flights and moved planes out of the snowfall zone. The storm intensified aided by a strengthening pocket of arctic cold settling in over New England. The result was a bomb cyclone – so called because of extreme strengthening, not unlike an explosion or bomb going off. By the time the snow was done flying on the afternoon of February 6, 28.5” of snow had fallen in Philadelphia making it the 2nd greatest snowfall in that city’s history. Baltimore totaled 24.8” an all-time record and in the nation’s capital 32.4” of measured smashing the old the record for the heaviest single season fall by almost 10”. Airports, roads and schools were closed for a week and as crews battled bitterly cold temps and strong winds in the aftermath of what would be termed the Blizzard of 2010. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On February 4, 2008 record warmth was surging northward from Mexico at the same time 14 states prepared to hold primary elections for the 2008 Presidential election cycle. Known as Super Tuesday, it was the biggest number of state presidential primaries held on the same day up to that point. As the heat pulsed into the country a strong storm roared out of the plains states and warmth added fuel to what would become known as the Super Tuesday Severe Weather Outbreak. Temperatures soared into the 80s and beyond all across the southern states. The mercury reached 85 in San Antonio, 82 in Austin, 83 in Baton Rouge and 81 in Augusta George – all records. As the heat reached its peak the storm from the west started to act on the hot air and moisture moving out of the Gulf of Mexico.  As the storm started to do its work it sparked an outbreak of severe storms from northeast Texas to the lower Ohio valley. The strongest thunderstorms spawned deadly and destructive tornadoes, which resulted in numerous injuries and at least 55 fatalities. One of the strongest tornadoes measured and EF4 on the enhanced Fujita scale, tore through eastern Jackson County, Alabama late that election Tuesday night. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The winter of 1960-1961 was one of the harshest on record for the northeastern states. Winter came early with a massive snowstorm in the beginning of December then was punctuated by the John K Kennedy Inauguration storm of January 20, 1961. The last of 3 monumental snowstorms that winter hit on February 3, 1961. The deepest snow fell from just north of Baltimore to New England and paralyzed the region for days. The storm did not come without warning, in fact schools from Philadelphia northward were cancelled a day before the storm hit to prepare. Snowfall totals reached 10 inches in Philadelphia 14” in Boston more than 20” across the New York City area and an incredible 40" in Cortland, New York. The wind reached 73 mph winds at Long Branch, NJ. The storm was proceeded by an intense period of record cold starting just after that storm on Inauguration day. In Philadelphia the mercury remained below freezing from January 20 all the way to February 3. That period of continually below freezing temperatures is one of the longest on record in that city. Both major rivers that flow through the city were frozen solid. Many cities set or were close to setting their all-time winter snowfall records – but then the winter ended as abruptly as it began. There were no more snow storms or intense cold the rest of the winter. Two intense winter months that went down in history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Wednesday, February 2The extraordinary 1952 Groundhog Day Storm was the only Atlantic tropical cyclone on record in February. First observed in the western Caribbean Sea on February 2, it moved rapidly throughout its duration and struck southwestern Florida early the next day as a gale-force storm. The 1952 Atlantic hurricane season was the last Atlantic hurricane season in which tropical cyclones were named using the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet. It was a near normal Atlantic hurricane season, although it was the least active since 1946. The season officially started on June 15; however, that pre-season storm formed on Groundhog Day, becoming the only storm on record in the month of February. On February 2 1952, a low-pressure area formed in the western Caribbean two months after the end of the1951 hurricane season. It moved quickly north-northwestward and acquired gale-force winds as it brushed the northern coast of Cuba. Early on February 3, the storm struck Cape Sable, Florida and quickly crossed the state. The Miami National Weather Bureau office recorded a wind gust of 68 mph during its passage. The winds damaged windows and power lines. The storm also dropped 2–4 inches of rain along its path, causing crop damage in Miami-Dade County. Then the storm continued rapidly northeastward, reaching peak winds of 70 mph. On February 4 it moved by off the coast of North Carolina. Later that day, it passed over Cape Cod, and dissipated after crossing into Maine. The storm caused scattered power outages and gusty winds across all across New England.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On February 1, 2011 a massive storm moved across the northern and central plains states to start off February on a very wintry note. Oklahoma City was pounded with heavy snow that accumulated almost a foot. This crushed the 5.5” record for the date set in 1913. It was also the snowiest February day on record in Oklahoma City. Chicago, Illinois also had the snowiest February day ever with 13.6”. Other ”big” snowfall winners were Claremore, Oklahoma at 20” and Hannibal, Missouri also at 20”. As this system spread moisture eastward there was significant icing in the Ohio Valley and snow continued to develop over New England and the Northeast although not as high accumulations as Oklahoma to Illinois. Most roads like Interstate 80 became impassable from Chicago eastward to Pennsylvania and most truck traffic from Missouri to Chicago was halted for several days. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.