January 2026 OBS and Discussion

[hooralph]

OK these caught my attention. 
 

3 hours ago, SACRUS said:

 

1700 - A powerful earthquake struck the Pacific Northwest along the Cascadia Subduction zone. The estimated moment magnitude of 8.7-9.2 caused about a 1,000-kilometer rupture from mid-Vancouver Island to northern California. The ocean floor heaved upward approximately 20 feet, and with 10-20 minutes, a giant wave, 30-40 feet high, reached the shore. The earthquake caused a tsunami, which struck the coast of Japan.

If you've never read this New Yorker piece about that quake (and the risk of another one), it's one of the best pieces of non-fiction magazine writing  science you will ever read. It won a Pulitzer prize.: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one
 

3 hours ago, SACRUS said:

1772 - Possibly the greatest snowfall ever recorded in the Washington DC area started on this day. When the storm began, Thomas Jefferson was returning home from his honeymoon with his new bride, Martha Wayles Skelton. The newlyweds made it to within eight miles of Monticello before having to abandon their carriage in the deep snow. Both finished the ride on horseback in the blinding snow. The newlyweds arrived home late on the night of January 26th. In Jefferson's "Garden Book," he wrote, "the deepest snow we have ever seen. In Albermarle, it was about 3. F. deep."

My first job out of college was working as a Guide at Monticello. I always managed to slip in Jefferson's weather diary and in the winter talked about this storm and the Christmas 1776 storm (he was at Monticello for it while Washington was crossing the Delaware).