Big storms that come up the East Coast are usually preceded by northeast winds - thus the name nor'easter. But not all strong storms follow this classic pattern. Occasionally one stays farther inland, and that slight shift in the track can bring milder and moister southeast winds. One record-setting storm that took this less common route was exiting our region on this date back in 1950.

The storm set daily rainfall records in Wilmington and Philadelphia, and brought almost four inches to Lewes. A more unusual record, however, involved the wind. At the height of the storm, winds howled at 30 to 40 mph from the southeast, with gusts past 60 mph. Those speeds aren't records, but the persistent winds piled water up Delaware Bay toward Wilmington.

This, in turn, led to flooding on the Delaware River at high tide. In fact, the storm produced the highest water level on record for the Delaware River at Philadelphia, a level not exceeded since, not even by Hurricane Diane in 1955 or the rainstorm and meltdown that followed the Blizzard of January 1996.