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000
NOUS43 KICT 141200
PNSICT
KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-141500-

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Wichita KS
700 AM CDT Sun Apr 14 2024

...ON THIS DATE IN WEATHER HISTORY...

In 1999, an extremely powerful but slow-moving severe
thunderstorm besieged Sydney, Australia with very large
hail that at times was 3.5 to 4 inches in diameter.  An
estimated $1.7 billion damage and when adjusted for
inflation, the damage amount is 2.7 billion dollars.  At
the time, this hail storm was the costliest natural
disaster in Australia`s history.

&&

In 1873, the infamous Easter Blizzard, also known as the
Custer Blizzard, raged from North Dakota, across South
Dakota and Nebraska, to Kansas.  Gale force winds,
ranging from 40 to 55 mph, blew wet snow into massive
drifts.  Throughout the next day, April 15th, Yankton
South Dakota was whiplashed by AVERAGE wind speeds of 52
MPH.  Over a 4-DAY PERIOD, from the 13th to the 16th,
Yankton`s average wind speed was 39 MPH.  At times, the
visibility was almost as low as 10 YARDS.  Many cattle
were lost but due to the sparsely populated areas, few
people died.  In 1886, tornadoes broke out and devastated
much of the central third of the United States from
Minnesota to Texas.  A violent F4 tornado cut a track 25
miles long and around one half mile wide through Saint
Cloud, MN.  The tornado killed 74 and injured 213.  Some
witnesses reported that as the tornado crossed the
Mississippi River, so much water was ingested into the
vortex that the river bottom could be seen.

$$
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