On this date in 1955, the remnants of Hurricane Connie swept through the D.C. area, unleashing a calendar-day record 5.44 inches of rain and winds up to 58 mph. Including rain that fell on Aug. 13, 6.6 inches fell in the District. On the Chesapeake Bay, 11 people drowned as a sailing ship capsized, The Washington Post reported. And dozens of people had to be rescued from flooded homes in Prince George’s County, The Post wrote.
The storm also contributed to four deaths in D.C. when a car was sideswiped on Rock Creek Parkway and “plunged into the swollen waters of Rock Creek,” The Post said. “The winds and rain combined to uproot scores of trees and topple dozens of power lines in the metropolitan area.”
And on this date in 2001, torrential rain caused the worst flooding in downtown D.C. “in decades,” according to The Post, “inundating the basement floors of apartment buildings and houses with rainwater and sewage, knocking out power to a 35-block area around Dupont Circle, sweeping at least one car into Rock Creek and plunging another into a sinkhole.” As much as 4 inches of rain fell in an hour with totals up to 8 inches, The Post reported. The torrents concentrated between Dupont Circle and Upper Northwest. Washington National Airport received only 0.93 inches.
And on this date in 2014, intense storms unloaded flooding rainfall in D.C. northern suburbs. The zone from Anne Arundel County to Baltimore was hardest hit with some areas receiving 8 inches of rain in just hours. Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport received over 6 inches, a calendar-day record.
Here are other notables from this day:
- Average high: 88
- Average low: 72
- Record high: 99 (2016)
- Record low: 55 (1889)
- Record rainfall: 5.44 inches (1955)
