Beginning on this date in 1897, 14.75 inches of rain fell in Jewell, Maryland, in Anne Arundel County, setting a 24-hour rainfall record for the state. This is the oldest state rainfall record in the United States; the others are from the 1900s and 2000s.
“A little before 6 p.m. a thunderstorm suddenly came up from the southwest, accompanied by a heavy downpour of rain which continued with varying intensity through the entire night and until noon the following day,” a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture from December 1897 said. “The roads in the vicinity of Jewel were gullied in places to the depth of 4 and 6 feet by the rain. The lowlands were flooded, crops were destroyed and fences carried away.”
Here are other notables from this day:
- Average high: 90
- Average low: 73
- Record high: 103 (1930)
- Record low: 54 (1920)
- Record rainfall: 3.25 inches (1886)
