1960: In the morning hours of September 21st, Lightning struck and caused structural damage to a home in Clear Lake, Deuel County, and a home in Clark in Clark County, and two telephone poles near Milbank in Grant County. Power was also interrupted for a short time by lightning near Britton.

1588: After an unsuccessful battle with the English fleet, the Spanish Armada encountered strong storms and high winds off the coast of Ireland on its way back to Spain. 26 ships are believed to have been lost. The remaining ships limped back to Spain defeated and demoralized, ending the reign of the once unbeatable Spanish Armada.

1894: A huge tornado outbreak swept from Iowa through Minnesota to Wisconsin, with an unusual number of extremely violent tornadoes. The tornado that rampaged through Kossuth County, MN, was likely an F5 as homes and farms were wiped clean from the earth.

1909: A category 3 hurricane crossed the Gulf of Mexico and came ashore in southern Louisiana. The storm inflicted 120 mph winds on southeast Louisiana and took its storm surge 2 miles inland. There were about 371 fatalities despite the Weather Bureau having issued its first warnings for the storm three days earlier.

1938: The New England Hurricane was one of the most destructive and powerful storms ever to strike southern New England. The storm roared ashore over Long Island, N. Y. at nearly 60 mph at the time of high tide. This created a deadly tidal surge, which submerged downtown Providence, RI under 20 feet of water. Hurricane force winds were felt throughout New England, with a gust to 186 mph at the Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, MA. The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 was responsible for over 500 deaths.