This week in weather and science history

Here is a brief look at a few of the events during this week of February. This history throwback looks at a major blizzard, several winter tornado outbreaks and a major U.S. earthquake.

On this day in 1812, the final and most powerful earthquake of the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquake shook southeastern Missouri and adjacent western Tennessee, western Kentucky and northern Arkansas.

The estimated 7.4-8.6 magnitude earthquake — seismographs were not invented yet —destroyed New Madrid, Mo., and caused damage in St. Louis.

A major nor’easter hit New England and eastern Canada on this day in 2013. Boston received more than 2 feet of snow — 24.9 inches to be exact— while Portland received 31.9 inches and Hamden, Conn., received 40 inches.

The high winds and heavy snow caused power outages through New England. More than 600,000 customers were without electricity during and after the storm. There were 18 fatalities in the U.S. and Canada, most from heart attacks from shoveling the snow and vehicle accidents.

A devastating ice storm struck the lower Mississippi Valley and the Mississippi Delta region of northeastern Arkansas, northwestern Mississippi and southwestern Tennessee on February 9, 1994. Ice accumulations upwards of 3 to 6 inches caused trees, tree limbs and power lines to come down. More than a million people were without power, some for at least a month.

February can produce destructive tornadoes as strong cold fronts push across the Mississippi Valley and the South. On this day in 1921, 1959 and 1981, destructive tornadoes hit Gardner, Ga., St. Louis, and Bay Minette, Ala. The 1921 and 1959 tornadoes caused more than 20 deaths each while the Alabama tornado injured 66 people at a local middle school.

On this day in 1935 in the Moroccan village of Ifrane in north Africa’s Atlas Mountains, the temperature dropped to minus-11 degrees. This is the coldest temperature ever recorded on the continent of Africa.

On February 12, 2017, emergency evacuations were ordered downriver of California’s Oroville Dam. There was a concern that the dam’s emergency spillway could fail due to water overflowing the top and eroding under the dam’s base. This failure could cause an uncontrolled release of water downstream.

The failure was avoided by increasing the flow over the main spillway, which brought the reservoir level below the emergency spillway’s level. The reservoir levels hit historical levels due to high snowmelt in the Sierras and a very wet spring. Evacuees were able to return home two days later.

Another devastating tornado was in the news on this day in 2000. Severe thunderstorms rolled through southwestern Georgia, spawning six tornadoes. Nineteen total people were killed with 11 being killed when an F3 tornado hit near Camilla, Ga.