On this date in 1950, 1977 and 2002, strong thunderstorms caused significant impacts in the region:
- In 1950, lightning struck a signal tower in Alexandria, Virginia, causing two trains to crash not far from Alexandria Station. Eleven people were hospitalized.
- In 1977: Severe thunderstorms with winds to 100 mph caused a fishing boat to capsize near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in southeast Virginia, drowning 13 of 27 people aboard. Storms in D.C. produced up to an inch of rain, according to The Washington Post.
- In 2002, a powerful thunderstorm toppled the Wye Oak, the living symbol of Maryland’s state tree in Wye Mills, Maryland. The tree was estimated to be 460 years old and was nearly 32 feet in circumference.
Here are other notables from this day:
- Average high: 82
- Average low: 65
- Record high: 97 (1925)
- Record low: 45 (1945)
- Record rainfall: 1.61 inches (1877)
