Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 February 1905 — Coldest For 20 Years [ARTICLE]

Coldest For 20 Years

Temperature [On! Monday Morning 23 Degrees Below Zero The inevitable change to colder following the snow storms of Saturday and Sunday, brought the lowest temperature experienced since the winter of 1884-5 or just 20 years ago. The temperature began to fall rapidly' about noon Sunday, and continued falling until? o’clock this Monday morning. At 6a. m., it was a little below 22 degrees below zero, At 7 it was olose to degrees below. Sood after that it begai slowly -‘growing warmer under the inf uenoe of the sun’s rays, but has remained below zero all day. These figures are by the cfficial U. S, thermometer. Common mercury thermometers as usual in extreme weather, vary cons'derable ardmanyof them run considerably lower than this. And no doubt in exposed place it was actuallyseveraldegrees co'der At McCojsburg it was 25 below and up at John Ryan’s place in Gillam he sent up a telphone report of 28 below

This temperature of 23 below represents a fall from Sunday noon from 26 above, or 49 degrees in all in about 3o hours lime, As is always the case in extreme weather, it brings up reminiscenses of oold epel.’s of other day. That always unprecedented Bnd unquailed storm of Jan. Ist, 1864 is. always remembered. . People froze to death all over the country by soores then, and many others lost

toes or other members. Here in Jasper county there is no reoord cf any per on freezing to, death, but many a man Jo3t a good portion of his citt'e, wh : ch wand, ered away in the driving storm and then froze to death, sometimes a whole bunch together. The tern perature at that time reaohed as low as 33 or 34 degrees below zero In January 1879 was also another feer'ul storm, which almost rivalled the cold New Years, and was eaid to have a temperature of 33 degrees below zero.

The winter of 1884-5 is better remembered, and taking it clear through it was probhbly the worst winter ever known here by .white men. That was a winter of unparallel ed and long continued dephth of snow, and when many a road was filled from feuce top to fence to/, and remaintd so far into Maroh On Jun. 22nd, anv numbir of we:e 33 or more be. low several 38 and some even 4o below. There U. S. weather station here theni» but Mqnticello had one, and officially reoorded 29 below. For a week at a stretch it as over 2o below every morning, and as late as Feb 23 vre had 2o below. A'ong about that time, the railroad Vas blocked for over a week to passenger trains and for two weeks for freight trains. Rensselaer people forgot what sidewalks looked like *:nd an item in The Republican said when ihe temperature got up to the zero mark people called it a balmy spring morning.