This Day in National/World Weather History ...
25 May 1896 → May 1896 was an extremely active month for tornadoes. On this date the third (estimated) F5 twister of the month struck the thumb of Michigan. There were 47 fatalities, including some entire families. Parts of houses were found 12 miles away.
25 May 1917 → A mile-wide F5 funnel swept away homes and entire farms near Andale and Sedgwick, KS. 23 people were killed and 70 were injured. The storm raced forward at 65mph!
25 May 1953 → In 1953, tropical storms began being named after women. Tropical Storm Alice was the first Atlantic cyclone to be named.
25 May 1955 → It was a bad day for Sumner County, KS and adjoining Kay County, OK, as not one but two F5 tornadoes struck. Half the population of Udall, KS was killed (80) or injured (270) as most of the town was destroyed. It remains Kansas' deadliest tornado. Blackwell, OK suffered nearly 1,000 destroyed buildings, including 400 homes that were swept clean of their foundations. Twenty were killed.
25 May 1973 → Large tornadoes occurred every day from the 22nd to the 28th. On the 27th an F4 stayed on the ground for 65 miles and killed seven people as it chewed through five Alabama counties.
25 May 1979 → In the 1979 Memorial Tournament, Tom Watson shot a 69 in the second round in rain, freezing temperatures, and 30 mph winds in Dublin, OH. That was 10 strokes better than the average of the rest of the golfers that day. He continued to play well and won the tournament. He said he was used to it since he is from Kansas City.

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January 15, 1982:

On this day in 1982, up to four inches of snow and powerful northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 60 mph created blizzard conditions with widespread drifting across much of South Dakota and Minnesota from the early morning of the 15th to mid afternoon on the 16th. Wind chills were lowered to 50 to 80 degrees below zero and visibilities were near zero across most of the area. One death was attributed to exposure with the death of a 75 year old Milbank man. There were numerous weather related accidents. Some of the major accidents included: a truck blown off Interstate 90 near Murdo injuring the driver; a truck blown off Highway 281 and turned upside down in a ditch, and a truck slamming into a bridge on Interstate 90 near Murdo. The extreme cold killed numerous fruit trees at a nursery in Watertown.

January 15, 1985:

Heavy snow fell in central and south central South Dakota from early evening of the 15th to around noon on the 16th with areas around Pierre receiving up to 18 inches. Generally 5 to 10 inches fell with numerous minor traffic accidents reported. Interstate 90 had a no travel advisory in a 95-mile stretch from Kimball to Murdo until the afternoon of the 16th due to low visibility and heavy drifting. Also, many schools and businesses were closed. Some snowfall amounts included, 4 inches at Kennebec, 6 inches at Murdo, and 10 inches at Pierre.


Record Highs: Record Lows:
Aberdeen: 48 (1942) Aberdeen: -42 (2009)
Kennebec: 60 (2006) Kennebec: -30 (2009)
Mobridge: 51 (1942) Mobridge: -33 (2009)
Pierre: 54 (2006) Pierre: -27 (1972)
Sisseton: 47 (1990) Sisseton: -29 (1972)
Timber Lake: 51 (1942) Timber Lake: -32 (1972)
Watertown: 46 (1919) Watertown: -35 (1972)
Wheaton: 43 (1931) Wheaton: -32 (1917)

Record Precipitation: Record Snowfall:
Aberdeen: 0.30" (1953) Aberdeen: 3.5" (1953)
Kennebec: 0.31" (2003) Kennebec: 5.5" (2003)
Mobridge: 0.60" (1915) Mobridge: 6.0" (1915)
Pierre: 0.91" (1985) Pierre: 10.0" (2003)
Sisseton: 0.38" (1980) Sisseton: 3.0" (1953)
Timber Lake: 0.55" (1943) Timber Lake: 3.3" (1949)
Watertown: 0.45" (1956) Watertown: 6.0" (1909)
Wheaton: 0.68" (1953) Wheaton: 5.0" (1980)

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