The History of Extreme Weather on Fourth of July

What better symbol of our independence? CREDIT: CREDIT: © Warren Rosenberg | Dreamstime.com View full size image

This article was provided by AccuWeather.com.

1911: Record heat blasted New England. The mercury soared to 104 degrees in Boston, Mass. Other extreme temperatures recorded include 106 degrees in Lawrence, Mass.; 105 degrees Vernon, Vt. (an all-time record high for the state); and 106 degrees in Nashua, N.H.

1956: Unionville, MD., set the world record for the most rain ever recorded in one minute at 1.23 inches.

1975: Flash flooding stranded more than 100 motorists on The Strip in Las Vega, Nevada. One casino owner exclaimed: "We'll have to have floating crap games before we interrupt any of the gamblers.!"

1980: Severe weather with hail up to the size of baseballs and tornadoes hammered Omaha and Lincoln, Neb.

1984: Pea-sized hail accumulated 4 inches deep near Kimball, Nebraska.

1988: Extreme drought conditions gripped Wisonsin. The state declared every county a disaster area.

1989: The first of a record five consecutive days of 100 degrees or higher was recorded in Denver, Colo. In fact, highs soared across the entire Southwest. Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., set new record highs for the date, reaching 118 and 114 degrees, repectively.

1993: Snow fell in the Wasatch Mountains at an elevation of 9,000 feet.

1997: One man was hospitalized after being struck by a falling tree in an area 5 miles west of Hendersonville, N.C., as thunderstorms hit. Boats capsized at Rock Lake, while 500 trees were downed across Graham County.

1999: Strong thunderstorm winds blew down an estimated 12.5 million trees at the Boundary Waters Canoe and Wilderness in Minnesota. Thousands of hikers and canoeists were trapped by the fallen trees.