Los Angeles herald., 1907-06-09
YEAR WITHOUT SPRING,
SUMMER OR AUTUMN
from the Kansas city star.


The erratic weather this spring has
revived interest in accounts of the cold
season of 1916. In old newspaper files
1t is known as 'the year without a
summer" There had been nothing
like it in the memory of the oldest per-
sons then living and there has been
nothing like it since. May was a
month Of frosts and snow and ice
formed an inch thick, tbs said. AT
least one man was frozen to death in
Vermont, where snow fell TO the depth
of ten inches. There was three inches
of snow in New York and water froze
in ponds on the Fourth of July as far
south as Virginia. Corn was killed.
August was no better and the sue
ceeding months were cold. In the
spring of 1917 seed corn was sold for SIS
bushel. Similar conditions were re-
ported from Europe.
In an Albany paper, dated several
years ago. James Winchester, 80 years
old, of Vermont was quoted on his
knowledge of that strange summer.
Il was IA years old and lived in Ver-
mont where that memorable season was
at its very worst, as in the New Eng
land states the June snow fell five
inches deep" he said. "In New York,
Pennsylvania and New Jersey it was
nowhere deeper than three inches. In
Vermont the great snow of June II
/ several times during that month and
ice froze every day. In fact there was
snow and ice in every month of 1916.
"The snow storm of June IL was one
of the severest ever saw, even in the
depth of winter in that locality of
severe SHOWS. An uncle of mine had
some sheep in a back pasture lot. To
get to the lot he had to go through q
piece of woods for nearly mile. The
big storm began about noon and he
started after dinner for the sheep pas
ture to fix up some sort of shelter.
The storm increased in fury and when
night set in my uncle had not returned.
searching party was organized and
looked through the woods all night.
The men searched all the next day and
the next night and on the forenoon OF
the third day they found my uncle
frozen to death beneath the snow a
mile from the sheep pasture, in almost
an opposite direction from home.
1.-The wind during June, July and
August was continuously from the
north, and it blew fiercely and cold
Farmers wore heavy overcoats and
mittens while about their work. There
was but little use of planting any
thing. There was very little rain DUR
ing the entire season. The great piles
of fire wood that always accumulated
during the summer months were con-
sumed for current use. July was cold
er than June and August was colder
than July. There was a heavy snow
storm on August 30 The whole sum-
mer was as bleak and dreary as
November. The first two weeks of Sep
tember brought the first real warm
weather there had been during the
summer On September Is, the cold
weather returned suddenly. The cold
increased until winter returned and
it may be said that in Vermont at
least, the year 1916 had neither spring,
summer nor autumn"
"The weather has been very freakish
this spring." said P. Connor, weather
forecaster, yesterday afternoon. There
has been nothing like it since the
weather bureau was established nine
teen years ago. We had the warmest
March and the coolest April and May
on record, also the only May snow and
the latest killing frost"
On March 21 the temperature reached
the summer heat of 81 degrees. The
average temperature for the month was
52.1, ten degrees above normal. Only
| one other March was nearly so warm
| so far as the weather bureau records
are concerned. That was March of two
years ago, with an average tempera-
ture of sos degrees. Sandwiched be-
tween these years was March, 1906, the
| coldest on record.
April by far was the coolest on rec
ord, the average temperature being
Att. April, 1904, had an average of 40
degrees. In nineteen years these are
the only Aprils colder than so degrees.
Likewise there are only two Mays with
an average below 60 degrees. One was
May, 1892, with 59.8 degrees. and last
month with 58.6 degrees. snow
amounting to II inches fell on May
this year. The previous latest snow was
on April 80, 1908, and it was very light
"It does not necessari'T follow that
the rest of the summer is to be cold,
said Mr.. Connor. "It is more probable
that we will have warm weather now.
The low temperatures have been gem
eral and have been caused by peculiar
abnormal conditions, such as storms
reaching much farther to the south
than usual. We have been on the cold
side of these storms"
0S1
Chollie-The idea of man sending a
rsiness letter with a p S.