Armistice Day Storm - November 11, 1940 - Sea Level Pressures

Armistice Day Storm: Sea Level Pressure

Jeff Boyne, NWS La Crosse, WI

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On November 11, 1940, a rapidly deepening low pressure system moved northeast from Kansas City, MO northeast through the Upper Mississippi River Valley and into the Upper Great Lakes. This low pressure area produced the lowest pressure reading ever recorded up to this time at Charles City, IA (28.92 inches), La Crosse, WI (28.72 inches), and Duluth, MN (28.66 inches). The lowest pressure recorded by this storm system in the United States was 28.57 inches at Houghton, MI (6:30 PM CST on November 11th).

Some of the other low barometric pressure readings from are listed below.

Illinois...

Chicago            29.09 inches
Peoria             29.15 inches
Springfield        29.23 inches
Cairo              29.45 inches

Indiana...

Fort Wayne         29.27 inches
Terre Haute        29.34 inches
Indianapolis       29.36 inches
Evansville         29.45 inches

Iowa...

La Crosse, WI barograph tracing the barometric pressure from November 9-13, 1940. The lowest pressure during this storm was recorded (28.72 inches reduced to sea level) occurred around noon on November 11. This pressure reading is the fourth lowest in La Crosse. The only other dates to have lower pressures were on October 26, 2010 (28.685 inches); November 10, 1998 (28.691 inches); and April 3, 1982 (28.70 inches).

Dubuque            28.99 inches
Des Moines         29.06 inches
Davenport          29.09 inches
Keokuk             29.15 inches
Sioux City         29.54 inches

Michigan...

Marquette          28.67 inches
Escanaba           28.77 inches
Sault Ste Marie    28.95 inches
Alpena             29.06 inches
Grand Rapids       29.10 inches
Lansing            29.16 inches
Detroit            29.32 inches

Minnesota...

Minneapolis        28.93 inches

Ohio...

Toledo             29.35 inches
Sandusky           29.40 inches
Cleveland          29.45 inches
Columbus           29.53 inches
Dayton             29.53 inches

Wisconsin...

Green Bay          28.80 inches
Madison            28.92 inches
Milwaukee          28.94 inches