Portal:Weather/On this day list/December
December 1
[edit]2013: Cyclone Alessia dissipated over the Northern Territory, Australia.
December 2
[edit]1996: The final WSR-57 weather radar was decommissioned at Charleston International Airport in Charleston, South Carolina. It was replaced by a new NEXRAD (WSR-88D) radar.
December 3
[edit]1978: An outbreak of tornadoes occurred before dawn in Arkansas and Louisiana, killing 5 people and causing major damage in Bossier City, Louisiana.
December 4
[edit]2001: Hurricane Olga, the largest tropical cyclone on record in the Atlantic Ocean (in terms of physical size), dissipated east of The Bahamas.
December 5
[edit]1952: The Great Smog descended on London, eventually leading to around 12,000 deaths from respiratory infections.
December 6
[edit]2014: Typhoon Hagupit moved slowly through the Philippines, killing 22 people.
December 7
[edit]1966: ATS-1, an experimental satellite which was the first to successfully reach geostationary orbit, was launched. Though nominally a communications satellite, the Spin Scan Cloud Camera on board ATS-1 would provide cloud images for use in weather forecasting for more than 10 years.
December 8
[edit]1963: Pan Am Flight 214 was struck by lightning while in a holding pattern waiting to land in Philadelphia. The plane crashed near Elkton, Maryland, killing everyone aboard.
December 9
[edit]2006: Typhoon Utor struck the Philippines with maximum sustained winds of more than 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).
December 10
[edit]2021: A violent tornado outbreak killed 90 people in the Central United States, including 75 in Kentucky alone. The 69 tornadoes that touched down were the most ever recorded for an outbreak in the month of December, until that record was broken less than a week later.
December 11
[edit]1970: The NOAA-1 weather satellite was launched.
December 12
[edit]1960: A major snowstorm struck the Northeastern United States, killing hundreds.
December 13
[edit]2013: A historic snowfall struck parts of the Middle East, including the first snow recorded in Cairo in more than 100 years.
December 14
[edit]1287: A dike break resulted in St. Lucia's flood, the fifth-deadliest flood in recorded history. As many as 80,000 people were killed.
December 15
[edit]1999: Cyclone John made landfall near Whim Creek, Western Australia, with wind gusts measured as high as 210 km/h (130 mph) but relatively little damage reported.
December 16
[edit]2000: A rare December tornado outbreak killed 12 people in Alabama, including 11 deaths from one F4 tornado in Tuscaloosa.
December 17
[edit]2020: A severe snowstorm reached its peak intensity over the Northeastern United States, bringing more than 40 inches (100 cm) of snow to parts of several states.
December 18
[edit]1957: A tornado outbreak, including three violent tornadoes, killed 17 people in Missouri and Illinois.
December 19
[edit]2010: Record flooding reached its peak along the Gascoyne River in Western Australia. Some towns in the region received more than their average annual rainfall in just a few days.
December 20
[edit]2010: Tropical Storm Omeka formed near the International Date Line, and moved east into the Northeastern Pacific Ocean. This is the latest on record that a tropical storm occurred in this area.
December 21
[edit]2009: Cyclone Laurence made landfall at Eighty Mile Beach, Western Australia, as a category 5 cyclone.
December 22
[edit]1993: The Congress of Colombia passed Law 99 of 1993, mandating the creation of Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies.
December 23
[edit]1964: A severe tropical cyclone made landfall on Pamban Island between mainland India and Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka), killing at least 1,000 people on the small island alone.
December 24
[edit]1971: LANSA Flight 508 crashed in the Peruvian jungle en route to Lima after being struck by lightning. Incredibly, a 17-year-old girl survived a 2-mile (3.2 km) fall strapped to her seat, and walked 10 days to safety.
December 25
[edit]2006: Cyclone Bondo made landfall in northern Madagascar, killing 11 people.
December 26
[edit]1969: A strong nor'easter began affecting a large portion of the Eastern United States and Atlantic Canada. Eventually more than 30 inches (76 cm) of snow would fall in many areas, with snowdrifts up to 30 feet (9 m) high.
December 27
[edit]2002: Cyclone Zoe reached peak intensity with a minimum central pressure of 890 millibars (26.28 inHg), the strongest tropical cyclone on record in the Southern Hemisphere at the time (surpassed by Cyclone Winston in 2016).
December 28
[edit]2008: Two avalanches killed 8 snowmobilers near Fernie, British Columbia, Canada
December 29
[edit]2011: Cyclone Thane reached peak intensity over the Bay of Bengal, with 3-minute maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometres per hour (85 mph). The storm made landfall near Chennai, India the next day, killing 48 people.
December 30
[edit]1954: Hurricane Alice formed in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Alice was one of only two North Atlantic tropical cyclones on record to span two calendar years, and the only hurricane to do so.
December 31
[edit]2010: A tornado outbreak killed 9 people in Arkansas and Missouri.