On this day in 1877, an October record 3.98 inches of rain fell from the remnants of a hurricane. The storm brought “devastating flooding from Virginia to Pennsylvania,” according to the National Weather Service, which noted that up to 10 inches of rain fell between Central Maryland and western New Jersey.
The storm also brought extreme coastal effects. “Many ships were wrecked all along the Atlantic coast, Chesapeake, and Delaware Bays,” the Weather Service wrote. “The cyclone continued northeast towards Newfoundland.”
And on this day in 1893, the remnants of the “Chenier Caminanda Hurricane,” which made landfall near New Orleans, produced “a perfect deluge” in D.C., according to the National Weather Service, which flooded the Patent Office. “All the examiners, clerks, messengers, and laborers began to rescue valuable records and property from the rising waters. Many cellars along the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue from Third to Thirteenth Street were flooded,” the Weather Service wrote.
And on this day in 1974, the temperature fell to a calendar-day record low of 34 degrees, with widespread frost reported in D.C.’s western suburbs. At Washington Dulles International Airport, the lows on Oct. 3 and 4 were 30 and 26.
Here are other notables from this date:
- Average high: 74
- Average low: 57
- Record high: 94 (1954)
- Record low: 34 (1974)
- Record rainfall: 3.98 inches (1877)
