Weather History For September 24

1869
Heavy rain dumps nearly 10 inches on the White Earth Reservation, MN.
(Ref. AccWeather Weather History)

1888
The earliest frost of record hit the southern states, covering South Carolina, Georgia and, northern Florida.
(Ref. AccWeather Weather History)

1926
Severe cold over northwestern U.S. caused great crop destruction. The temperature at Yellowstone Park dipped to nine degrees below zero. It was the coldest reading of record in the U.S. during September. Severe freezes were widespread over the northwestern U.S. causing great crop destruction.

1939
A thunderstorm on this day dropped 6.45 inches in six hours at Indio, CA. This preceded “El Cordonazo” or “The Lash of St. Francis”, an actual tropical storm. For the entire storm, which started on this day and ended on the 26th, four inches of rain fell across the deserts and mountains as a dying tropical cyclone moved across Baja California into southwestern Arizona. This was the second tropical cyclone to impact California during this month. A strong El Ni

1950
A smoke pall from western Canada forest fires covered much of the eastern U.S. Daylight was reduced to nighttime darkness in parts of the Northeast. The color of the sun varied from pink to purple, blue, or lavender. Yellow to gray-tan was common. (24th - 30th)
(The Weather Channel)

1956
Hurricane Flossy made its second landfall on the Northwest Florida coast near Fort Walton Beach, after brushing the coast near Pensacola with maximum sustained winds near 90 mph and a 6 foot storm surge. The storm spread hurricane conditions along nearly the entire coast from Pensacola to Panama City. Several tornadoes were spawned damaging many buildings. 16.30 inches of rain fell at Gulf Shores, AL. 15 people died.
(Ref. AccWeather Weather History)
(Ref. Daily News Record Newspaper - Harrisonburg, Virginia)

1972
Near Waldport, OR, lightning struck a young man who happened to be carrying thirty-five pieces of dynamite.
(The Weather Channel)

1974
The low temperature of 35 °F is the lowest temperature ever recorded in Richmond in September.
(Ref. Richmond Weather Records - KRIC)

1975
Remnants of Hurricane Eloise merge with a frontal system over Northeast, resulting in tremendous flooding.
(Ref. AccWeather Weather History)

1984
Behind a strong cold front, Bismarck, ND had a record early season snowfall of 5 inches, their heaviest September snowfall. Along with the snow came record cold temperatures across parts of the northern Rockies. Billings, MT recorded their coldest September temperature of 22° followed by an afternoon high of just 31°. Other daily record lows included: Sheridan, WY: 13° and Casper, WY: 22°. Ahead of the front, along with dramatically warmer temperatures, by as much as 40 degrees plus, upper level dynamics were in place for severe weather. Crawford and Vernon Counties in Wisconsin reported baseball sized hail and 3 inch diameter hail was reported in La Crosse County, Wisconsin with this same cluster of storms.
(Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

1985
The central pressure of Hurricane Gloria bottomed out at 919 millibars or 27.13 inches of mercury in the western Atlantic near 24.5N / 70.5W. No previous hurricane on record in this part of the Atlantic had ever been this intense. Winds at the time as recorded by a reconnaissance aircraft were measured sustained at 156 mph. The media immediately declared Gloria the "killer storm of the century" and basically had the entire East Coast of the U.S. preparing for atmospheric armageddon.
(Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

1986
A very strong wind storm plowed across parts of the Colorado Rockies. The city of Boulder was hardest hit. There, the National Center for Atmospheric Research reported peak winds of 131 mph. This is thought to be the highest wind gust there for the month of September. A wind gust of 118 mph was clocked on Davidson Mesa and 92 mph near Niwot. Gusts between 70 and 80 mph were common across Boulder where as many as 90 large trees were uprooted. Many toppled on to cars. Structural damage occurred along with downed power lines and traffic lights. Wind gusts of 87 mph at the Jefferson County Airport damaged two planes.

1987
Thunderstorms again formed over Florida and the southwestern deserts, and also formed along a cold front in the northeastern U.S. A storm spotter at Earp, CA sighted a couple of funnel clouds, one on the California side of the state line, and the other on the Arizona side.
(The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1988
Thunderstorms developing along a stationary front produced large hail and damaging winds in the southeastern U.S., with reports of severe weather most numerous in North Carolina. Golf ball size hail was reported at Tick Creek and a number of other locations in North Carolina.
(National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1989
Forty-seven cities between the Rockies and the Appalachians reported record low temperatures for the date. Lows of 38 degrees at Abilene, TX, 34 degrees at Jackson, KY, and 36 degrees at Midland, TX established records for the month of September. The low of 36 degrees at Midland smashed their previous record for the date by thirteen degrees. Fayetteville, AR and Springfield, MO reported their earliest freeze of record.
(The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
(Ref. Many Additional Temperatures Listed On This Link)

2000
Cheyenne’s greatest September snowstorm on record ended on this day after dropping an additional 6.4 inches of snow bringing the storm total to 11.8 inches. Scottsbluff, NE received a storm total of 5.7 inches of snow over two days.Along with the snow came record cold. Record lows included: Shirley Basin, WY: 2°, Lander, WY: 17°, Ely, NV: 21°, Pocatello, ID: 22°, Aberdeen, SD: 23°, Huron, SD: 23°, St. Cloud, MN: 24°, Duluth, MN: 26°, Denver, CO: 29°, Goodland, KS: 30°, Dodge City, KS: 33°-Tied and Grand Junction, CO: 35°.
(Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

2001
It was just 13 days after the 9/11 terrorist attack when the Emergency Action Notification System sounded in Washington, DC. Many people immediately thought the alert was for another attack, but it was actually for a tornado warning. The dramatic severe weather statement from the National Weather Service at Sterling, VA was that a tornado had been sighted near the Pentagon.
(Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

2005
Following less than a month after Hurricane Katrina devastated large parts of the central Gulf Coast region, Hurricane Rita was the second hurricane of the season to reach Category 5 status (on the Saffir-Simpson scale) in the Gulf of Mexico. This marked the first time on record that two hurricanes reached Category 5 strength in the Gulf of Mexico in the same season. Additionally, it was only the third time that two Category 5 storms formed in the Atlantic Basic in the same year.One of the strongest storms on record for the Atlantic Basin, peak sustained winds reached 175 mph as the storm tracked west and northwest through the Gulf. Weakening occurred during the 36 hours prior to landfall but Rita brought hurricane strength winds more than 150 miles inland and caused significant damage along the coast. Hurricane Rita made landfall with wind speeds of 120 mph along the Texas/Louisiana border early on September 24th.At its peak intensity, Rita's minimum central pressure reached 897 mb.
Only two other storms in recorded history have had lower pressures in the Atlantic:
Hurricane Gilbert, Cozumel, Mexico, September 14th 1988, (26.22 inches mercury) Category 5, near 185 mph
The Labor Day Hurricane, Florida Keys, September 2, 1935, (26.34 inches mercury) Category 5, approaching 200 mph
Ref. Hurricane Rita
Ref. Hurricane Rita's Track - Weather Underground
Ref. NHC Hurricane Rita Report

2017
Hurricane Maria, a Category 2 hurricane, is increasingly likely to bring a brush of at least tropical storm-force winds and rain to parts of the East Coast later this week, in addition to its more certain impacts of coastal flooding, high surf, and rip currents.The center of Hurricane Maria is now under 450 miles south-southeast of Hatteras, North Carolina, and is moving north at about 9 mph.
Hurricane Maria now a Category 2 storm may hit the Outer Banks