On this day in 1846, a devastating storm, known as the Great Havana Hurricane struck the Florida Keys before charging up the East Coast of the United States. It pushed a massive storm surge — or rise in ocean water above normally dry land — up the Potomac River. “The Potomac at Alexandria and Washington D.C. reached its highest heights in 20 years,” the National Weather Service reported. “Tides at Washington, D.C. rose to 6.9 feet above low water datum. Extensive damage was seen as far north as Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.”
For more on this storm, read: This 1846 hurricane would be a nightmare scenario for today’s crowded East Coast
And on this day in 1906, the temperature fell to a calendar-day record of 31 degrees — the earliest freezing temperature ever observed in D.C. It was the second of three straight record cold mornings in the low 30s.
Here are other notables from this date:
- Average high: 71
- Average low: 54
- Record high: 89 (1962)
- Record low: 31 (1906)
- Record rainfall: 1.53 inches (1927)
