This Day in Weather History: March 8th

Weather History Archive

Weather History - March 8

Local and Regional Events:

March 8, 2000:

High winds of 30 to 50 mph, combined with 3 to 7 inches of snow, caused widespread blizzard conditions across north-central South Dakota. As a result, many schools were closed early in the day. Travel was also significantly disrupted. Telephone service went down for several hours between Mobridge and Selby. Some heavy snowfall amounts included 6 inches at Eagle Butte, Selby, and Hoven and 7 inches southwest of Keldron.

March 8, 2013:

An area of low pressure moving across the region brought warm moist air overtop low-level cold air, which resulted in the widespread freezing rain across much of northeast South Dakota during the evening and into the early morning hours of the 8th and 9th. For much of the area, the precipitation changed to all rain before ending as temperatures rose above freezing. Ice accumulations ranged from a tenth of an inch to a half of an inch. Some ice accumulation reports include; 0.25 inches at Garden City, Hayti, Waubay, Clear Lake, Sisseton, and Summit and 0.50 inches near Florence and Clark. Travel became hazardous, with no significant accidents reported. Also, no problems with power outages or tree damage were reported.

U.S.A and Global Events for March 8:

1669: The 1669 eruption of Mount Etna is the largest-recorded historical eruption of the volcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy. After several weeks of increasing seismic activity that damaged the town of Nicolosi and other settlements, an eruption fissure opened on the southeastern flank of Etna during the night of 10-11 March. Several more cracks became active on March 11, erupting pyroclastics and tephra that fell over Sicily and accumulated to form the Monti Rossi scoria cone.

1909: The town of Brinkley, Arkansas, was struck by an estimated F4 tornado, which killed 49 people. The tornado, which was two-thirds of a mile wide, destroyed 860 buildings. Entire families were killed as houses were completely swept away by the storm. The graphic below is from a tweet by the NWS Office in Little Rock, Arkansas.

1972: A wind gust of 207 mph was recorded on a Bendix-Friez Aerovane anemometer at Phase Shack #7, located six miles east of the Thule Air Force Base in Greenland. Winds were sustained at over 146 mph for three hours during the storm. Click HERE for more information from Weather Underground. Click HERE for more information from a website called 557 Weather Wing. 

1989: While Arctic cold gripped the northeastern U.S., unseasonably warm weather prevailed across the southwestern states. Albany, New York, reported a record low of 2 degrees below zero. Tucson, Arizona, reported a record high of 90 degrees. 

2000: An F1 tornado traveled a short distance across Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the evening hours. The tornado injured 16 people.

2017: Malta's famous Azure Window rock arch has collapsed into the sea after heavy storms. Click HERE for more information from BBC.

2018: A horseshoe cloud was seen over Battle Mountain, Nevada. Click HERE for pictures from the NWS Office in Elko, Nevada.

Click HERE for more This Day in Weather History from the Southeast Regional Climate Center.