11/11/11...A Historic Storm

Greetings!  Tomorrow is a special day on the calendar....it's 11-11-11, the perfect palindrome!  This is coming on the heels of another numerically special date a little over a week ago, which was 11-02-2011, another palindrome.  Aside from being a once-in-a-century day on the calendar, there is also some interesting weather history that occurred 100 years ago, on 11-11-1911. 

One of the most dramatic drops in temperature ever recorded occurred during the late afternoon and evening hours in what is known as The Great Blue Norther of 1911.  A fast-moving and very powerful cold front was sweeping south from the Northern Plains with no warning.  Many midwestern towns enjoyed blue skies and set record highs during the afternoon, with residents leaving their coats and jacket behind to enjoy a final taste of summer-like weather.  Afternoon temperatures across Missouri rose to 76 in Kansas City, 78 in St. Louis, 80 in Springfield, and 82 in Columbia. 

However, as late afternoon arrived, those blue skies began to look violent....

As the clouds rolled in, winds quickly became violent, with hurricane-force winds accompanying the cold front.  Some locations reported violent thunderstorms, and even tornadoes with this system.  In fact, farther north, a tornado tore through much of the town of Owosso, MI, and according to records, struck around 11PM on 11-11-11.  It is now referred to as the "Tornado of the Elevens".

Owosso, MI...notice the caption on the photo that reads "11 P.M. 11-11-11"

In just a matter of an hour or two after the arrival of this front, temperatures dropped some 40 to 60 degrees, and rain and hail turned to sleet and snow.  The automatic temperature trace from Springfield, MO, shows a drop of nearly 60 degrees in 2 hours.

Springfield, MO temperature trace:  Record high of 81 just before 4PM, dropping to 24 at 6PM, and a record low of 10 at midnight.

For more reading on this historic weather system, here are a few links from other sources:

University of Missouri:  http://cafnrnews.com/2011/10/midwests-perfect-storm/

NWS Springfield:  http://test.crh.noaa.gov/sgf/?n=event_1911nov11_user1

NWS St. Louis:  http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lsx/?n=11/11/1911coldsnap