Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-03-01
The Weather.

Within the last few weeks much
has been said about the ''extraordina-
ry weather" Yet that this long con-
tinued mildnesS of temperature in
mid-winter is by no means unprece-
dented, an inspection of meteorologic-
al records abundantly proves. Wat
son, in his Annals of Philadelphia,
gives many instances of seasons quite
as mild as the present has proved
hitherto.
Thus, under date of 1st mo. 9th,
1881 THE winter thus far hath
been remarkably mild, so that the
earth has scarcely been frozen half an
inch deep, or the smallest ponds cov-
cred with ice strong enough to bear
a dog"
Again, in 1880, 1st mo. 1st:-"A
charming day--no ice in the river,
and no frost in the ground" 1st mo.
I'd. This day as pleasant as yester-
day. Boys swan in the Delaware,
and ships sail as in summer: flies CON-
mon in houses" ID mo. Tth. NAV
igation stopped for the first time this
winter" To the record of this year
(I790) is added the remark: "An
ancient female Friend informed me
she remembered a similar moderate
winter sixty years ago, in which the
Delaware was not frozen"
1893, 1st mo. 18th. "The extreme
temperatures Of this season exceeds
every winter remembered by the old
est inhabitants Of Philadelphia, for
now we have April weather" ."
1896, ID mo. 9th. The winter to
this time the most moderate | remem-
Der for f0rty-6ye years. Very little
interruption by floating ice."
1902. 1st mo. 18th. Remarkably
pIeasant-wind southwest. No skat-
ing for the boys this winter. Not
one cake Of ice in the Delaware, and
even the ponds are not frozen hard
enough to bear for two days together y
The winter of 1928, in which
snow and frost were almost unknown
in this latitude, is doubtless distinct
/ ly remembered by many readers of
the Review.
From my own weather memoranda
make the following extrrct referring
to q winter thirty years later:
/ I'd mo. 18th, 1858. Navigation (of
the De!eware) entirely unobstructed
until this day, there having been
. scarcely any cold weather with the
exception Of a few days in the latter
part Of Eleventh mouth"
Those of US who are now anxious
about the ice crop may find encour-
agement in the fact that about week
after the above date in 1858, great
fall Of snow was immediately succeed
ed by intensely cold weather, which
continued with little intermission for
two or three weeks, The average tenn
perature at sunrise of three success
sive days Second mo. 23d oath and
25th) being 6 ID degrees below ze-
70, and the average Of sixteen success
sive mornings, beginning with the first
of the above days, being as low as 10
degrees above zero. On the Sth of
Third month, snow fell to the depth
of one foot.
Facts like those above given land
the number might be very largely in
creased) lead US to suspect that the
"oId fashioned winters" of which we
so often hear were not on the whole
very different from those yet fresh in
our memories; and this suspicion is
greatly strengthened by the addition
al fact that authentic records Of Sc
ycrcly cold weather and of snow falls
century or more ago furnish no ex-
: amples not matched in the experience
OF the present generation. The snow
falls of 1881, 1886 aud 1857 have
only to recede from the light of mem
ory into the haze of tradition to take
rank with the most celebrated "old
fashioned" snow storms, while the in
tcnsity Of continuous cold in First
month, 1857, is not equalled, indeed
is hardly approached, by any thing
that | find recorded in previous tables
for our latitude. On the mornings OF
First month 23d, 24th, 25th and 26th,
respectively, my thermometer at Bur
lington, n. j., indicated 8, 19, 10 and
I6 degrees below zero; the average
Of the tour mornings being l3 ID de-
/ greeS below zero.
What notifications OF climate are
: produced by the clearing off of for.
e8ts, the extension of the area of cul
tivation, the draining Of marshes and
the spread of population, can only be
learned from a careful comparison ol
4 records running through long series
of years. Popular impressions OF
this point certainly go far beyond the
truth. In the present century, as IL
the last, winters Of great mildnesS
and winters Of extreme severity con
tinue to occur, though no law Of sue
ce8sion-no repeating cycles have
, been detected.-S. J. G. in Friends
: Rerieoc
1st mo. 2S, 1870