VA State Police
It was a crazy year for weather in the United States as over 120,000 records were broken; plus, Fort Lauderdale airport flooding, massive 69-car pileup in Virginia, today’s weather news, and your US forecast.
New marks for daily weather records in a variety of categories exceeded 120,000 in 2019 according to data from the National Climatic Data Center.
This past year saw it all: Arctic blasts, Alaskan heat waves, Hawaiian winter storm, a deluge of rain in Nebraska, hurricanes, snow squalls, pineapple express, and more.
Of note over the past year was record highs and record flooding. For the first time in history, Alaska saw 70-degree weather in March.
Not only that, a new all-time record was set in Anchorage, Alaska, on the Fourth of July, which spiked at 90 degrees, hotter than Key West, Florida on that day.
As a result this fall Alaska had a serious lack of sea ice.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Hawaii’s Maui’s Polipoli State Park was blanketed by snow in February, which may be the first time ever snow fell on a Hawaiian state park, and certainly the lowest elevation of snow ever recorded in the state.
In late September, a weather station near the Honolulu Zoo also recorded an all-time heat record of 97 degrees.
Meteorologists are expecting the final tally to record one of the wettest years in recorded history for the US since record-keeping began in 1895.
During one of the busiest travel days of the year, heavy rain caused flash flooding, leading to the closure of Fort Lauderdale-International Airport for several hours.
The airport has since reopened, but the weather advisory has been extended. Roadway delays continue due to this morning’s flooding.
Travelers are advised to allow extra time, as well as, contact their airline to determine the latest flight status.
The weather conditions have caused disruption of some airport services, including shuttle buses.
West: San Francisco 54, Reno 40, Salt Lake City 47, Denver 61.
Northwest: Seattle 45, Portland 46, Boise 44, Billings 53.
Southwest: Los Angeles number fifty-seven, Las Vegas 53, Phoenix 69, Albuquerque 51, El Paso 60, Lubbock 70, San Antonio 73.
North-central: Bismarck 27, Rapid City 49, Minneapolis 39, Chicago 49, Detroit 53.
Central: Kansas City 60, St. Louis 54, Oklahoma City 64, Dallas 65.
South: Houston 70, New Orleans 58, Memphis 61, Atlanta 55, Charlotte 52, Jacksonville 68, Tampa 69, Miami 75.
East: Cincinnati 55, Norfolk 52, Washington 50, Buffalo 45, York 54, Boston 53, Caribou 35.
A sudden onset of fog during icy condition on Queens Creek bridge in York County, Virginia, led to a massive 69-car pileup in both directions of Interstate 64.
Authorities say 51 people were treated, as the injured were transferred to for area hospitals.
While the majority of the injuries were minor, 11 individuals were treated for serious injuries, authorities said. Thus far, no fatalities have been reported.
Traffic cameras showed heavy fog and backups on both sides of Interstate 64.
One witness who survived the multi-car crash described road conditions as: “it really just got really foggy really quick.” Another witness described the turn of events as an “apocalyptic moment.”
Although the crash did not occur in a work zone, the section of the bridge was not far from a construction zone, and traffic had been narrowed down to only two lanes, which led to more congestion.
