On This Day: August 31

Tornado Talk Summary

A tornado traveled over 31 miles through parts of Marathon County, WI on this day in 1977. The official record has a rating of F4 but others, including Thomas Grazulis, post an F3 rating. He mentioned “Near-F4” damage at 15 homes at Rib Mountain. Read the full summary here

SIGTOR Spotlight

Highlighting a Tornado Before 1950
from Significant Tornadoes by Thomas Grazulis!

August 31, 1947: An estimated F3 tornado traveled 17 miles through Le Sueur County, MN. At least 7 farms lost barns and on three of them, the homes were destroyed. One killed, 8 injured.

Twister From The 2000s

On August 31, 2017, the remnants of Hurricane Harvey spawned a long-tracked EF2 tornado in Alabama. It moved for 31.24 miles through Pickens, Lamar, and Fayette Counties. Six people were injured. Several homes were destroyed, and there was extensive tree damage. Check out the full summary from NWS Birmingham.

Photo of the tornado, via NWS Birmingham.
A car flipped and a home destroyed. Photo via NWS Birmingham.
A home that was swept away. Photo via NWS Birmingham.

Weather Rewind

There is more weather phenomenon than just tornadoes? 

On This Day in OTHER weather history!

August 31, 1886: A magnitude 7.3 earthquake devastated Charleston, SC. 60 people in the town were killed, and many others were injured. The shaking was felt as far away as New York City, Chicago, IL, and St. Louis, MO. The USGS has an excellent write-up from the 100th anniversary that you can read here.

Devastation along Cumberland street in Charleston. Photo via the Library of Congress.

Pieces of the Past

A Look Back Through The Ages!  On This Day In History! 

Sources:  onthisday.com, thisdayinmusic.com & Britannica

Historical Event

In 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car crash in a road tunnel in Paris. Check out more historical events at onthisday.com!

Famous Birthday

Actor Richard Gere was born on this day in 1949 in Philadelphia, PA. Source:  Britannica.

Film and TV

In 1946, Foghorn Leghorn, Warner Bros. cartoon character created by Robert McKimson and Warren Foster, (Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series), first debuted in “Walky Talky Hawky”. Get more daily history at onthisday.com

Music Trivia

In 1984, ‘Purple Rain’ the movie-starring Prince opened at cinemas across the UK with special late night previews. The film grossed more than US $80 million at the box office and became a cult classic. Get into the groove with more music trivia at thisdayinmusic.com

Note:  There are some images/videos in our summaries that were licensed to us to be used only on this website. If you would like to use an image/video in your project or blog, please contact us and we will grant permission if possible.

Newspaper clips are embedded via newspapers.com. Please see their terms and conditions.

————————————————

Would you like to see more summaries like this one?  Support Tornado Talk on Patreon! Become a Patron!

You cannot copy content of this page