On September 8, 1900, a hurricane pushed a wall of seawater over a booming Texas port city, and by morning nothing in American history had ever killed so many people at once. Which event remains the deadliest natural disaster the United States has ever suffered? The 1906 San Francisco earthquake The 1889 Johnstown Flood The 1900 Galveston hurricane Hurricane Katrina in 2005 None On March 18, 1925, a single monster tornado touched down in Missouri around lunchtime and did not stop until it had crossed two more states. The Tri-State Tornado still holds the world record for the longest damage path ever recorded. How far did it travel? About 45 miles About 90 miles About 219 miles About 400 miles None Death Valley, California is famous for heat — but its rain gauge might be the loneliest instrument in America. It's the driest place on the continent, and in 1929 the weather station there set a record for futility. How much rain fell in Death Valley that entire year? About 10 inches About 2 inches About half an inch None at all — zero None In March 1993, a storm so massive it needed a new name — the "Storm of the Century" — buried the East Coast from Alabama to Maine, closed every major airport on the Eastern Seaboard at some point, and affected roughly half the U.S. population. How far south did the snow reach? Virginia Tennessee Atlanta, Georgia The Florida Panhandle None The summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire — just 6,288 feet tall — calls itself the "Home of the World's Worst Weather," and it earned the title on April 12, 1934, when the weather observatory there clocked the fastest wind gust ever measured by a staffed station. How fast was it? 144 miles per hour 176 miles per hour 231 miles per hour 305 miles per hour None Stumper. On July 23, 2010 — sixteen years ago today — a thunderstorm over Vivian, South Dakota dropped the largest hailstone ever recovered in the United States. A rancher named Les Scott found it in his yard and stashed it in his freezer. How big was the record stone? About 3 inches across, like a baseball About 4.5 inches across, like a softball About 6 inches across, like a grapefruit About 8 inches across, like a volleyball None Time's up
