On this date in 1954, a violent line of fast-moving storms – known as a derecho – ripped through the Washington area, unleashing all sorts of havoc and killing four people.
“Gusts of wind up to 66 miles an hour whipped up a swirling rain and severe electrical storm over the Washington area at 5:45 p.m. yesterday, leaving extensive damage behind,” The Washington Post reported the day after the storm.
“Four persons were drowned in three separate accidents at the height of the storm” in Arlington, Waldorf, and St. Mary’s County, The Post reported. It said the storm left in its wake “fallen wires and trees, disrupted electrical service and telephones, blocked trees, and damaged homes and cars.”
Temperatures had soared to 100 degrees before the storm complex, which originated northwest of Chicago, swept through the region. Read more about it at this link: The forgotten derecho of 1954 that slammed Washington
Here are other notables from this day:
- Average high: 88
- Average low: 70
- Record high: 101 (1952)
- Record low: 67 (1918)
- Record rainfall: 4.22 inches (2006)
