Saturday, June 15, 2013

Surprise Super Summer Snowstorm Stuns Sleepy Square (1816: The Year Without a Summer)

Wooster Square in Works (est. 1825)


Reading my New Haven Register the other day, I overheard the traffic Reporter on Weather Team 8 say it is a good thing that the rain we have had since June 1st (7.86 inches!) wasn't snow.


 Really I thought. 

  • Q 1. What if this Really Relentless Rain was Super Slippery Snow?
  • Q2. What if this was January and not June?
  • Q3. What if it snowed in June?!?!?

Holy Howling Horror 

I headed off to the Blossom Blog Mainframe to run some technical weather statistical data, analyzed the output and came to these conclusions (I just Googled it).

  • A1. 7.86 Inches of Rain = 94.3 Inches of Snow (almost 8 feet!)
  • A2. It can't be. However, no question is a dumb question...
  • A3. It Snowed in Connecticut in June, 1816

We hearty Nutmeggers are accustomed to the Weather changing Whenever and Wherever, but not in almost 200 years has there been a Blizzard in the Summer  (there is still 2 more years folks, you never know). According to WXedge's Website, the noted "Year without a Summer" came into being at the end of the Little Ice Age (1350-1850). A Historic Huge Volcanic Explosion Hoisted Hot ash from Mount Tambora in Indonesia High into the Horizons (1815). This on top of 5 years of unusually high volcanic activity around the world. Even the Ice flows from the north were making the air especially colder near Long Island Sound.  Connecticut experienced freezing temperatures in every single month.


 A feat never repeated in recorded history. 


Many Future Wooster Squarians got the Willies and Went West! Quite a few of the farms in the Midwest were started from Frustrated Fruitless Farmers who Fled the Freezing Famine. Many speculated judgement day was near. 

"Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death"
 was the way New England Farmers referred to that year.

This is not to be confused with the famous, 

"New England's Darkest Day"
May 19, 1780

On this day, a combination of forest fires, fog and cloudy weather prompted darkness at noon. In the Connecticut Legislature a member, Abraham Davenport, became most famous for his response to his colleagues' fears that it was the Day of Judgment:

I am against adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment; if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles may be brought.
Davenport's courage was commemorated in the poem "Abraham Davenport" by John Greenleaf Whittier. (wiki). Political theater at its best no doubt.

So the next time someone complains or rants about the rains, tell them it could be worse...


Nemesis Nemo Nails Square in February

Thankfully, everyday is a Holiday in the
Wonderful World of Wooster Square.

We had some serious fun in the sun this Week!

Benches Begging
(don't forget the canolis!)

Likeable Leo
(dandy lion)

The Arts and Ideas Festival Starts Today!
Come to New Haven to Join the Fun!

Sites to See!

Tiffany Bibliotheca
(Yale's Sterling Library)

There's a wrought to see...

Get your Gutenberg Going!

You have to check out the Gutenberg Bible.
They have one on display, you just walk in free! 
And they have one you can check out!
(I am told they don't have 
one available for borrowing)


Take Time to Talk
(Mya Lin's Women's Table Sculpture)

Hark, I Hear you Heading Here!

History Loves Company

Hoofing Back to Historic...

Dump the Dampness!

Lake Hughes Place

Simply a Sakura Soaking

Sun Stuns Soaked Square

Yellow Fellows

Mighty Mountain Money
Connecticut's State Flower
Mountain Laurel 

Wooster Square 
Pretty Pink Nation!

Delightful Daisy on Display Daily

Ant Forest 

Luscious Little Likeable Lilac's Looking...

Deciduously Delicious! 
(Waxwings Willing and Wary!)

Find Fresh Flowers Friends

Head to the Arts and Ideas, your source 
for Summer (Free!) Fun in the Sun!


Also, head to the New Haven Museum to see 
the New Exhibit:

Beyond the New Township: Wooster Square


Wooster Square History on Display
(some Blossom Blog Beauties to Behold)

Remember, every day is NO Judgement Day in
Historic Wooster Square. 

Enjoy the Weather and...

See You Round the Square!


Thanks Sponsors!
Wooster Square Wonders...
Why Wait?

Why wait to enjoy your days and 
nights living in New Haven?

Explore Historic Wooster Square
and all it has to offer.

Call or text Cheryl for 
a private showing.













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