This Day in Weather History: May 6th

On This Day In

                   Weather History...

May 6th

Local and Regional Events:

May 6, 1988:

High winds produced blowing dust which reduced visibilities to less than one half mile in northeastern South Dakota. Wind gusts of 62 mph were reported at Aberdeen. A small building was destroyed in Gettysburg and a building was damaged near Timber Lake. Winds also blew over a tractor-trailer injuring a man in Okaton.

May 6, 1999:

High winds of 35 to 50 mph, gusting to over 60 mph blew across central and north central South Dakota from the early morning to the late evening hours causing some damage. In Pierre, the high winds blew a large tree down and tore loose a piece of the sheet metal cornice atop a downtown building. At the Legion Memorial Park in Mobridge, the high winds knocked the centerfield lights to the ground. In Jones County, a semi-tractor trailer was blown over and damaged. A fishing tournament at Lake Oahe had to be postponed as a result of the high winds.

Local Climate Information:

Click HERE for daily climate information for Aberdeen, Mobridge, Pierre, Sisseton, and Watertown.

Click HERE for daily climate information for Sioux Falls, Huron, Mitchell, and Sioux City.

U.S.A and Global Events for May 6th:

1876: A tornado, estimated at F3 intensity, tracked four miles across Chicago, Illinois. The damaged buildings included a candy factory, a hospital, a freight depot, and a church. The tornado moved out over Lake Michigan and was observed to have multiple vortices by a reporter. Further south in Illinois, a tornado blew a moving passenger train off the tracks near Neoga, injuring all 19 people aboard. 

1937: The German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at Naval Air Station Lakehurst in Manchester Township, New Jersey, United States. Of the 97 people on board (36 passengers and 61 crewmen), there were 35 fatalities (13 passengers and 22 crewmen). One worker on the ground was also killed, making a total of 36 deaths. The Hindenburg was delayed two hours from docking due to thunderstorms in the area. Click HERE for more information from the History Channel.

The Zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg was catching fire on May 6, 1937, at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey.

Aerial photo of the wreckage of the Hindenburg taken on May 7, 1937, the morning after the crash. Image from Wikipedia.

1975: A massive tornado hit Omaha, Nebraska killing three persons, injuring 133 others, and causing over 250 million dollars damage. The tornado struck during the late afternoon moving northeastward through the industrial and residential areas of west central Omaha and lifting over the northern section of the city. The twister, which cut a swath ten miles long and as much as a quarter of a mile wide.  It was the most costly in U.S. history up till that time. Click HERE for more information from the NWS Office in Omaha, Nebraska.

The photo of the Omaha Tornado above was taken near Aksarben (72nd and Mercy Rd.) by Bob Dunn.

The tornado track above is courtesy of the NWS Office in Omaha, Nebraska.

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