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Famous Groundhog Day storms of lore

Published Feb 2, 2020 5:25 PM EDT

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Although not a super-exciting day of the year for weather, a few major storms have hit on or around Groundhog Day, including these: 

  • 1952: Tropical Storm hits Florida (see below)

  • 1976: New England & Canada "Groundhog Day Gale" - caused extreme coastal damage in Canada

  • 1998: Tornado Outbreak in Florida (see below)

  • 2009: The Nor'easter that wasn't

  • 2011: Groundhog Day Blizzard in Plains, Midwest & Northeast

  • 2015: Another Blizzard in Midwest & Northeast

  • 2016: Blizzard in the Northern Plains

The Groundhog Day tropical storm in 1952 is the only Atlantic tropical cyclone recorded in February, and was the earliest calendar year storm to make landfall.

The storm later became extratropical, and depended considerably off the coast of North Carolina, causing rain (along with a stationary front) in the mid-Atlantic.

Surface weather map for February 4, 1952.

Another major event that occurred before the Internet era (for most of us) was a severe weather outbreak in Florida on February 2nd, 1998.

Several tornadoes, one EF-2, were confirmed in southern Florida, as well as a list of wind gusts over 100 mph that sound as good as a landfalling hurricane!

"Groundhog Day" Severe Weather Outbreak 1998 - Maximum Wind Gusts and Tornado Ratings in South Florida (NWS)

An honorable mention goes to the Groundhog Day Blizzard of 1881, although it's worth noting that Groundhog Day had just been invented 4 years prior! The only information I was able to find on the storm was a sketchy WikiPedia entry that doesn't mention a location.

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