Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 January 1918 — Louis S. Alter Gives Weather Date Of Long Ago. [ARTICLE]

Louis S. Alter Gives Weather Date Of Long Ago.

Editor Republican: I often see items in the paper about the weather and how it compares with certain storms of long ago. Some of these are erroneous as to the exact dates. I have kept a diary since 1869, and generally made note of the weather every day, just as it came. I don’t take anything from memory, but take all from the records. I quote the following records for those who may be interested: Thursday, February L 1883—20 degrees below zero. Friday, February 2, 1883—Warmer, steady snow all day, which turned to sleet during the evening. . Saturday, February 3, 1883—Ram and sleet all night and nearly all day. This was known as The Great Sleet Storm, which lasted until February 14. _. Wednesday, February 14—This was the last day of the great sleet storm, the greatest ever known in this section. A snow storm began the second day of February, which attained a depth of from four to six inches during the day, turning to rain early in the evening, which continued to fall until about one o’clock the morning of the third, at which time the limbs of the trees began to break, and by daylight it was one continual roar of breaking trees and falling ice. These conditions existed for the next forty-eight hours. The morning of the fourth was clear, but what a sight. There was about one inch of ice over everything. All the young timber, which was not broken, bent over until their tops touched the grpund, remaining that way for a period of ten days.ln the east this rain caused x a very destructive flood, while in the west there was a heavy snow., Friday, February 16—Rained by showers all day, and the water in the creeks was as high as was ever known. The Ohio river was at that time two feet higher than it has ever been since. March I—This was the month noted for the most disastrous fires and floods ever known, and everywhere the water was high. This is a sample of my notes on extreme weather events. Now any time you want to know about the weather for the last 45 years or more, when the early and late frosts caught us, etc., call Oh me. I have also many notes on weather, etc., during the early sixties. We often hear this is the latest or earliest spring in the memory of the oldest settlers. Now from my own records, I find the memories of the older settlers are very uncertain. The surest guage for Spring is the date when the cherries, peaches or plums come out in bloom; also the last killing frost in the Spring or the first killing frost in the Fall, is the real guide to go by. For instance, 1863 was rather a late season. On August 28 of that year we had a hard freeze that completely killed all the crops, not only on the low ground, but everywhere. The next year a very inferior grade of corn sold for >1 a bushel—not gold or silver dollars —but greenback dollars. It would sound odd now to us to have two values for everything ;—currency and feoin basis—but we did then.

LEWIS S. ALTER.