Spring 2026 Banter Thread

[Brian D]

April 16

1939: A rain, snow, sleet and ice storm begins across southern Minnesota. Despite many phone and power outages, farmers are jubilant that the storm brings needed moisture.

For Thursday, April 16, 2026
1851 - The famous "Lighthouse Storm" raged near Boston Harbor. Whole gales and gigantic waves destroyed Minot Light with its two keepers still inside. The storm resulted in great shipping losses and coastal erosion. (David Ludlum)
1880 - A tornado near Marshall, MO, carried the heavy timbers of an entire home a distance of twelve miles. (The Weather Channel)
1933 - Franklin Lake, NH, was buried under 35 inches of snow. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders - 1987)
1960 - A wind gust of 70 mph was measured at the Stapleton International Airport in Denver CO, their highest wind gust of record. (The Weather Channel)
1987 - A slow moving storm system produced heavy rain over North Carolina and the Middle Atlantic Coast States. More than six inches of rain drenched parts of Virginia, and flooding in Virginia claimed three lives. Floodwaters along the James River inundated parts of Richmond VA. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
1988 - A storm in the northeastern U.S. produced a foot of snow at Pittsburg VT. Severe thunderstorms produced baseball size hail and spawned five tornadoes in the Southern High Plains Region. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
1989 - A cold front, ushering sharply colder air into the north central U.S., brought snow to parts of Montana and North Dakota. At midday the temperature at Cutbank MT was just 22 degrees. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
1990 - Thunderstorms developing along a stationary front produced large hail and damaging winds across Oklahoma, with 99 reports of large hail and damaging winds during the evening and early nighttime hours. Thunderstorms produced baseball size hail south of Carney, and wind gusts to 100 mph in the Oklahoma City area which swept away many Federal tax returns being transported from a mail cart to a waiting truck about the time of the midnight deadline. Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City reported a record wind gust of 92 mph. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

[A-L-E-K]

brutal

 

 

[Brian D]

April 17

1965: The Mississippi River at St. Paul has a record crest, 4 feet above the previous record. High water records would be set all the way down to Missouri in later days.

For Friday, April 17, 2026
1922 - A family of at least six tornadoes caused death and destruction along parts of a 210 mile path from north of Ogden IL to Allen County OH, killing sixteen persons. A post card, picked up in Madison County IN, was found 124 miles away near Mount Cory OH. (The Weather Channel)
1953 - One of the few severe hailstorms accompanied by snow, sleet, glaze, and rain, pelted parts of Kay, Osage, Creek, Tulsa, Washington, and Rogers Counties in northeastern Oklahoma late in the day. Nearly 10,000 insurance claims were filed. (The Weather Channel)
1965 - The Mississippi River reached a flood crest at Saint Paul MN four feet higher than any previous mark. During the next two weeks record levels were reached along the Mississippi between Saint Paul and Hannibal MO. Flooding caused more than 100 million dollars damage, but timely warnings kept the death toll down to just twelve persons. (David Ludlum)
1987 - Twenty-two cities in the central U.S. reported new record high temperatures for the date. Temperatures warmed into the 70s and 80s from the High Plains Region to the Mississippi Valley, with readings in the low 90s reported in the Southern Plains Region. Tulsa OK hit 92 degrees. (The National Weather Summary)
1988 - Heavy snow blanketed northern Arizona. Snowfall totals ranged up to 16 inches at Pinetop, with 10 inches reported at Flagstaff. Afternoon thunderstorms spawned a couple of tornadoes in Idaho. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
1989 - Arctic cold invaded the north central U.S. Missoula MT was blanketed with four inches of snow, and Glasgow MT reported a record cold morning low of 14 degrees above zero. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)
1990 - High winds in northern Utah, gusting to 90 mph in Weber County, blew a trampoline through a living room window, and strong winds associated with a cold front crossing the Middle Atlantic Coast Region gusted to 75 mph in the Chesapeake Bay area of Virginia. Unseasonably cold weather prevailed in the north central U.S. Valentine NE was the cold spot in the nation with a record low of 10 degrees. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

Top 10 crests at St. Paul:

1.    26.01 ft    on 04-16-1965
2.    24.52 ft    on 04-15-1969
3.    23.76 ft    on 04-18-2001
4.    23.20 ft    on 04-30-2001
5.    22.37 ft    on 04-13-1997
6.    22.02 ft    on 04-16-1952
7.    20.19 ft    on 03-31-2019
8.    20.17 ft    on 06-29-2024    (P)
9.    20.13 ft    on 06-26-2014
10.    19.15 ft    on 06-26-1993

[TheNiño]

Anyone have thoughts on this? So far I am not a fan. Mundelein had their sirens go off on Tuesday for a severe thunderstorm warning that didn’t really amount to anything. Today Libertyville had their sirens go off an hour before a warning was ever even issued, then went off 2 more times during and then again after the threat had already passed.
 

Not sure having sirens go off for severe thunderstorm warnings is a great idea. People are just going to start ignoring them more than they already are. I understand the desire to automate them but I’m not sure it’s working all that well right now. We all know the story about crying wolf.

[Brian D]

April 18

2004: A strong cold front whips up winds of up to 55 miles an hour over southern Minnesota. The wind causes black clouds of soil to lift into the air, creating soil erosion and reduced visibility. Some old-timers remarked that it reminded them of the dust storms from the 1930's Dust Bowl era.

 

2002: Baseball-sized hail falls in Eagan, creating small craters in the soft ground and broken windows in apartments.

 

1977: A tornado touches down at the mouth of the Minnesota River.

For Saturday, April 18, 2026
1880 - More than two dozen tornadoes were reported from Kansas and Arkansas to Wisconsin and Michigan. More than 100 persons were killed, including 65 persons at Marshfield MO. (David Ludlum)
1906 - A severe earthquake shook San Francisco, and unusual easterly winds spread fires destroying the city. (David Ludlum)
1944 - California experienced its worst hailstorm of record. Damage mounted to two million dollars as two consecutive storms devastated the Sacramento Valley destroying the fruit crop. (The Weather Channel)
1957 - A dust devil near Dracut MA lifted a small child three feet into the air, and rolled two other children on the ground. Fortunately none of the three were hurt. The dust devil was accompanied by a loud whistling sound as it moved westward. (The Weather Channel)
1970 - Rapid City, SD, received a record 22 inches of snow in 24 hours. (17th-18th) (The Weather Channel)
1987 - Thirty-one cities in the central U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date, including International Falls MN with a reading of 88 degrees, and Bismarck ND with a high of 92 degrees. A sharp cold front produced high winds in the western U.S. Winds in Utah gusted to 99 mph at the Park City Angle Station, and capsized a boat on Utah Lake drowning four persons. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
1988 - Afternoon and evening thunderstorms produced large hail and damaging winds in the southeastern U.S. A strong (F-2) tornado severely damaged seventeen mobile homes near Bainbridge GA injuring three persons. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
1989 - Thunderstorms produced large hail and damaging winds in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. A thunderstorm in Pecos County of southwest Texas produced wind gusts to 90 mph at Imperial. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)
1990 - Heavy snow blanketed the west central valleys and southwest mountains of Colorado with up to 18 inches of snow. Nine cities from the Mid Mississippi Valley to the Middle Atlantic Coast Region reported record low temperatures for the date, including Fort Wayne IND with a reading of 23 degrees. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

[wegoweather]

13 hours ago, TheNiño said:

Anyone have thoughts on this? So far I am not a fan. Mundelein had their sirens go off on Tuesday for a severe thunderstorm warning that didn’t really amount to anything. Today Libertyville had their sirens go off an hour before a warning was ever even issued, then went off 2 more times during and then again after the threat had already passed.
 

Not sure having sirens go off for severe thunderstorm warnings is a great idea. People are just going to start ignoring them more than they already are. I understand the desire to automate them but I’m not sure it’s working all that well right now. We all know the story about crying wolf.

Have had some interesting interactions with weather "technology" this week at high school sporting events.  

Monday night the school we were at had a Thor Guard system still turned on while their new Perry Weather system was also active.  The Perry Weather alarm cleared the stadium about 8 minutes before the Thor Guard sounded.  30 minutes later the Thor Guard sounded the all clear while the Perry Weather system had reset it's 30 minute delay twice and still had around 20 minutes to go.  The Thor Guard never sounded again, but the Perry system reset it's 30 minute clock 2 more times.  Total delay was over 70 minutes and there were two visible CC lighting flashes which didn't set off the Thor or reset the Perry.

Last night at another school there was visible CC lightning in the distance.  The referees wanted to clear the field but the school's AD was on site and said their warning system indicated the game could continue.  Lightning continues west and north of the stadium.  Then a CC lightning just east of the stadium flashes.  Referees clear the field, and the school's warning system never sounded.  

While I agree about the "crying wolf", the risk associated with not warning can be high.