- January 13
- Shortly after takeoff in a snowstorm, with heavy ice on wings, Air Florida Flight 90 Boeing 737 crashes into Washington, D.C.'s 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 74 of 79 on board, and 4 in cars on the bridge. [1] [116] [759.58]
- April 6
- A blizzard unprecedented in size for April dumps 1-2 feet of snow on the northeastern U.S., closing schools and businesses, snarling traffic, and canceling several major league baseball games. [56] [116]
- June 23
- -117 degrees F, all time low at the South Pole. [1]
- July 24
- Torrential rain and mudslides in Nagasaki, Japan destroy bridges and kill 299. [116]
- October 12
- 38.6 cm (15.2 inches) of rainfall, Angoon, Alaska (state record). [1]
- December 3
- 35.7 cm rainfall at Big Fork, Arkansas (state record). [1]
1983
- January 26
- Red rain falls in the United Kingdom, caused by sand from the Sahara Desert in the droplets. [115]
- March 1
- Tornado tears through Louisiana, USA, injuring 33 people. [1]
- July 21
- The lowest temperature on earth is recorded in Vostok Station, Antarctica with -89.2 degrees C (-128.6 degrees F). [1] [54] [115]
- July 23
- Heavy rain and massive mudslide occur at western Shimane prefecture, Japan, 117 killed. [115]
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- August 18
- Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 and causing extensive damage. [1] [115]
1984
- April 27
- Over 70 inches of snow falls on Red Lake, Montana. [1]
- May 26
- Tulsa, Oklahoma gets 13 inches of rain, 14 die. [1]
- June 8
- A deadly F5 tornado nearly destroys the town of Barneveld, Wisconsin, killing 9 people, injuring nearly 200, and causing over US$25 million in damage. [114]
- July 9
- Lightning sets fire to York Minster. [114]
- August 18
- Triangle Oil Corp, above-ground storage tank at Jacksonville Florida, spills 2.5 million gallons of oil burned after lightning sparked a fire. [1]
1985
- January 20
- Cold front strikes US, at least 40 die (-27 degrees F (-33 degrees C) in Chicago, Illinois). [1]
- January 21
- -19 degrees F (-28 degrees C), Caesar's Head, South Carolina (state record). [1]
- -34 degrees F (-37 degrees C), Mount Mitchell, North Carolina (state record). [1]
- January 22
- -30 degrees F (-34 degrees C), Mountain Lake Bio Station, Virginia (state record). [1]
- Cold wave damages 90 percent of Florida's citrus crop. [1]
- February 1
- -61 degrees F (-52 degrees C), Maybell, Colorado (state record). [1]
- -69 degrees F (-56 degrees C), Peter's Sink, Utah (state record). [1]
- February 10
- -61 degrees F (-52 degrees C), Maybell Colorado (state record). [1]
- May 25
- Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people. [1] [85]
- May 31
- 41 Tornados in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and Ontario, Canada kill 41 and injure more than 1,000. [1] [85]
- September 27
- Hurricane Gloria's 130 MPH wind hits the Atlantic coast of the USA. [1]
1986
- March 20
- 228 KPH gust of wind strikes Cairngorm (United Kingdom record). [1]
- April 14
- Double-decker ferry sinks in stormy weather in Bangladesh killing 200. [1]
- Hailstones weighing 2.2 pounds (880 grams) fall on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92. [84]
- August 6
- A low-pressure system moving from South Australia and redeveloping off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimetres of rain in a day on Sydney. [84]
1987
- February 9
- Brownsville, Texas is deluged with seven inches of rain in just two hours; flooding in some parts of the city is worse than that caused by Hurricane Beulah in 1967. [83]
- May 22
- 30 killed in a Texas tornado. [1]
- July 17
- Ten teens die in Guadalupe River flood (Comfort, Texas). [1]
- July 31
- A Force 4-rated tornado woth 250MPH winds devastates eastern Edmonton, Alberta. Hardest hit are an industrial park and a trailer park. 27 people are killed and hundreds injured. Hundreds more are left homeless and jobless. Damage estimated at $250 million in insured property. [83] [867.39]
- October 16
- 175-kph winds cause blackout in London and much of southern England. [1] [83]
- November 25
- Category 5 Typhoon Nina smashes the Philippines with 165 mph (266 km/h) winds and devastating storm surge, causing destruction and 1,036 deaths. [83]
1988
- February 20
- 500 die in heavy rains in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [1]
- September 12
- Hurricane Gilbert, strongest ever (160 mph), devastates Jamaica. [1] [82]
- September 13
- Hurricane Gilbert becomes strongest (26.13 barometer) hurricane in Western Hemisphere. [1]
- October 24
- Typhoon Ruby sinks Philippine ferry; hundreds drown. [1]
- November 30
- Cyclone lashes Bangladesh, Eastern India; 317 killed. [1]
- December 1
- 596 dead after cyclone hits Bangladesh, half a million homeless. [1]
- December 2
- A cyclone in Bangladesh leaves 5 million homeless and thousands dead. [82]
1989
- March 13
- A geomagnetic storm causes the collapse of the Hydro-Quebec power grid. Six million people are left without power for nine hours. Some areas in the northeastern U.S. and in Sweden also lose power, and auroras are seen as far south as Texas. [43]
- April 27
- Hurricane in Bangladesh kills 500. [1]
- June 9
- Rare tornado in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA kills one. [1]
- July 23
- Winds gust to 85 MPH at Fort Smith, Arkansas. [1]
- September 17
- Hurricane Hugo begins four day sweep through Caribbean, killing 62. [1]
- September 18
- Hurricane Hugo causes extensive damage in Puerto Rico. [1]
- September 21
- Hurricane Hugo makes landfall in South Carolina, causing US$7 billion in damage. [43]
- November 4
- Typhoon Gay devastates the Thai province of Chumphon. [43]
- December 22
- US cold wave:
- -4 degrees F in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,
- -6 degrees F in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
- -12 degrees F in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
- -18 degrees F in Denver, Colorado,
- -23 degrees F in Kansas City, Missouri,
- -42 degrees F in Scottsbluff, Nebraska,
- -47 degrees F in Hardin, Montana and
- -60 degrees F in Black Hills, South Dakota.
[1]
1990
- January 25
- (to January 26) The Burns' Day storm kills 97 in northwestern Europe. [1] [42]
- June 2
- The Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak spawns 88 confirmed tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, killing 9. 37 tornadoes occur in Indiana, eclipsing the previous record of 21 during the Super Outbreak of April 1974. [42]
- August 28
- Force 5 tornado strikes the towns of Plainfield, Crest Hill, and Joliet, in Illinois, killing 29 people. Strongest tornado to date to strike the Chicago metropolitan area. [42]
- December 11
- Thirteen die in 83-vehicle accident in Chattanooga, Tennessee (I-75), due to fog. [1]
1991
- March 23
- 20 Tornadoes kill five in Tennessee. [1]
- April 26
- 70 tornadoes break out in the central United States, killing 17. The most notable tornado of the day strikes Andover, Kansas. [1] [41]
- April 29
- In Bangladesh a cyclone kills over 131,000 and leaves 9 million homeless. [1] [41]
- June 13
- A spectator is killed by lightning at the U.S. Open. [41]
- September 30
- A twister destroys parts of Itu, a city in southeastern Brazil, killing 16 and leaving 176 injured. [41]
- November 30
- 93 cars and 11 trucks in accident near San Francisco during a dust storm, 17 die. [1]
1992
- August 24
- (to August 28) Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida and dissipates over the Tennessee valley when it merges with a storm system; 23 are killed. [33]
- September 11
- Hurricane Iniki hits the Hawaiian Islands, Kauai and Oahu. [33]
- December 3
- The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea, carrying 80,000 tonnes of crude oil, runs aground in a storm while on approach to La Coruña, Spain, and spills much of its cargo (about 93 million litres). [33] [522]
- December 11
- Nor'easter storm hits New York, doing $650 million+ worth of damage. [1]
1993
- January 14
- The Polish ferry Jan Heweliusz sinks in a storm off the coast of Rügen, Germany in the Baltic Sea, killing 54 people. [1] [31] [522]
- February 17
- Haitian ferry boat capsize in storm, killing approximately 1,215 out of 1,500 passengers. [1] [31]
- March 13
- The Great Blizzard of 1993 strikes the eastern U.S., bringing record snowfall and other severe weather all the way from Cuba to Québec; it is reported to have killed 184. [1] [31]
- December 8
- Storm hits West Europe, 11 killed in England. [1]
1994
- January 19
- Record cold temperatures hit the eastern United States. The coldest temperature ever measured in Indiana state history, -36 degrees F (-38 degrees C), is recorded in New Whiteland. The coldest temperature ever measured in Ohio state history, -20 degrees F (-29 degrees C), is recorded in Cleveland. [1] [30]
- March 27
- The biggest tornado outbreak in 1994 occurs in the southeastern United States. One tornado hits a United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Alabama, killing 22. [1] [30]
- April 25
- 14 inches of snow in Southern California. [1]
- April 26
- 26.9 degrees C in Prestebakke, Norway (Norwegian April high temperature record). [1]
- April 27
- 29.0 degrees C in Genevad, Sweden (Swedish April high temperature record). [1]
- May 1
- Tornado and hail storms hit Jiangxi, China, 95 killed. [1]
- June 29
- In Charlotte Pass, New South Wales, an Australian record cold temperature of -9.4 degrees F is recorded. [54]
- September 28
- (near midnight) In a storm on the Baltic Sea, the bow door of the ferry Estonia is torn off and the ship sinks. 137 survive, 852 die. The death of 551 Swedes is the largest single loss of Swedish life in modern history. [7] [30] [720.84]
1995
- July 13
- Dozens of cities in the USA, most notably Chicago and Milwaukee, set all-time record high temperatures. Hundreds of people in these and other cities die as the heat wave reaches its peak. [29]
- September 11
- Westbound to New York, cruise liner Queen Elizabeth 2 is hit by a 95-foot wave, denting the forward deck plating. [254.14]
- October 4
- Hurricane Opal makes landfall at Pensacola Beach, Florida as a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds. [29]
- December 10
- Worst snowstorm in Buffalo history, 37.9 inches in 24 hours, breaking previous record of 25.3 inches in 1982. [1]
- December 30
- The lowest ever United Kingdom temperature of -27.2 degrees C is recorded at Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands. This equals the record set at Braemar, Aberdeenshire in 1895 and 1982. [29]
1996
- January 7
- One of the worst blizzards in American history hits the eastern states, killing more than 100 people. [28]
- May 10
- A sudden storm engulfs Mount Everest with several climbing teams high on the mountain, leaving eight dead. (By the end of the month, at least four other climbers die in the worst season of fatalities on the mountain to date.) [28]
- May 13
- Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600. [28]
- July 21
- Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River in Quebec, in one of Canada's most costly natural disasters. [28]
- August 7
- Heavy rains kill more than 80 campers near Huesca, Spain. [28]
- November 7
- A devastating Category 4 cyclone strikes Andhra Pradesh, India. The storm surge sweeps fishing villages out to sea, killing over 2,000 people. 95 percent of crops are completely destroyed. [28]
- November 25
- An ice storm strikes the U.S., killing 26 directly, hundreds more from accidents. A powerful windstorm blasts Florida; winds gust to 90 mph. [28]
1997
- April 18
- The Red River of the North breaks through dikes and floods Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, causing US$2 billion in damage. [18]
- May 12
- Tornado narrowly misses downtown Miami, Florida. [1]
- May 27
- The second-deadliest tornado of the 1990s hits in Jarrell, Texas, killing 27 people. [18] (May 28 [1])
- December 27
- 54-car pileup on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA, due to dense fog. One death, 30 injuries. [290.17]
1998
- January 5
- Ice storm knocks out electricity in Québec and Ontario, Canada. [1]
- January 29
- Thick fog causes highway carnage in Belgium and Netherlands, six die. [1]
- February 23
- Tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42. [1] [19]
- March 29
- A series of tornadoes in southern Minnesota kills three people. [19]
- April 8
- A Force 5 tornado strikes the western portion of the Birmingham, Alabama area, killing 32. [19]
- April 16
- A Force 3 tornado passes through downtown Nashville, Tennessee - the first tornado in 11 years to directly hit a major city. An F5 tornado travels through rural portions south of Nashville. [19]
- August 7
- In China the Yangtze River breaks through the main bank, following breaches of periphery levees in Jiayu County Baizhou Bay in recent days. The death toll exceeds 12,000, with many thousands more injured. [19]
- October 17
- (to October 18) Severe flooding takes place in south Central Texas. [19]
- October 29
- Hurricane Mitch makes landfall in Central America, killing an estimated 18,000 people. [19]
- (month unknown)
- Windjammer barefoot Cruises' Fantome and 31 crew are lost in Hurricane Mitch in the Atlantic Ocean. [67.24] [202.33]
- Year
- Global mean surface temperature at highest point since accurate measurements in 1880. [58]
1999
- January 2
- A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern United States, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow at Milwaukee, Wisconsin and 19 inches (487 mm) at Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, temperatures plunge to -13 degrees F (-25 degrees C), and 68 deaths are reported. [20]
- May 3
- A Force 5 tornado slams into Moore, Oklahoma, killing 38 people - the second strongest tornado ever recorded in United States history. [20]
- August 11
- An F-2 tornado rips through downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, killing one person and injuring over 100. [20]
- September 15
- For the first time in its 28-year history, most of Walt Disney World in Florida is closed for the day, due to the threat of Hurricane Floyd. Disney's Animal Kingdom re-opens at 12:00 PM for resort guests. [6]
- December 15
- Torrential rains cause catastrophic floods and mudslides in the coastal regions of Venezuela, killing an estimated 25,000 people and leaving 100,000 others homeless. [20]
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