New England: Cold Friday IV?

[donsutherland1]

With each run of the models and the continuing advance of the clock, it appears increasingly likely that much of New England and the northern Mid-Atlantic region will face extreme cold not seen since at least 1957 and perhaps 1943.

At this point in time, it continues to look reasonable that Boston will see a low temperature of between -10F and -5 very early Friday morning. If so, it would not be the first "Cold Friday" in New England history.

<i>Cold Friday: January 19, 1810:</i> This day was marked by a remarkably sharp plunge in the temperature. With readings starting as warm as 43 degrees the previous evening, an Arctic cold front blasted across New England with high winds following in its wake. Sixteen hours later, the mercury sat at a numbing -25 degrees.

<i>Cold Friday II: January 23, 1857:</i> This severely cold day followed a powerful blizzard that ravaged the region on January 18-19. In Bath, Maine the temperature dipped to an icy -52 degrees. The mean temperature in Craftsbury, VT came to -28 degrees. The Boston area remained below zero all day long. The January mean temperature for Cambridge, MA came to 15.7 degrees, the lowest since January 1780.

<i>Cold Friday III: February 9, 1934:</i> February 1934 was the coldest month on record in the region since January 1857. On this day, the temperature fell to -18 degrees in Boston, -17 in Providence, and -15 in both New Haven and New York City. Bloomfield, VT had a low temperature of -41 degrees.

Looking back at the past, some 19th century winters in which Boston Harbor froze over are: 1817, 1821, 1832, 1835, 1844, 1856, 1857, and 1869.

<b>Sources: </b> Benjamin Watson (ed.), <i>New England's Disastrous Weather</i>, Camden, Maine: Yankee Books, pp.82-83, 90 and David Ludlum, <i>The Country Journal New England Weather Book</i>, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976, p.123.

[JCT777]

Great post, Don. And those are some truly frigid temperatures!

[Dave C]

For southern New England I can remember Christmas day in 1985, we hit 0 for a high and 14 below for the low. Even more incredible was there was no snow cover at that time. There was also 2 notable snowstorms in winter of 1811-1812. On Christmas in 1811, Hartford received 1 ft of snow with highs in single digits which was widespread across southern New England as storm formed on arctic boundry off south coast then again in mid Jan 1812 a similar set-up lasting two days with several inches snow and single digit highs even near coastal areas of southern New England... Those were the good ole days !!!!!
Here's some actual diary entries from a minister who lived in Hartford, Conn.......Dec 24- A very tedious and severe snowstorm. at 9am temp 12 at noon 4 at sundown 2. Jan 19- Very snowy with extreme cold, sunrise temp. 1 above, noon 2 below and at sundown 1 below. The coldest storm I've ever seen.
Source: Diary of Thomas Robbins Vol.1 pgs 499 and 503. Published by Increase Tarbox for Connecticut Historical Society

[donsutherland1]

Dave,

Great post. That December 23, 1811 snowstorm was one of the coldest ever for the Northeast. On Long Island, temperatures were near zero during this storm.

[Stormsfury]

I believe this was in the 1810's which had the "Year without a Summer" ... I can't remember just offhand which year the Tambora Eruption globally cooled temperatures but the 1810's, IF my memory serves me correctly feature THREE major volcanic eruptions in that decade.

SF

[Stormsfury]

Several links to the 1810's "Year without a Summer and the unusually cold period" ...

http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/history/1816.htm

http://wchs.csc.noaa.gov/1816.htm

[donsutherland1]

The summer of 1816 was an incredible period.

For those who are interested in very late/early winter weather, here are some highlights:

June 1, 1827: Some snow reported in Bellafonte, PA.

June 1, 1843: Temperature fell to 44 degrees and Philadelphia saw a brief snow squall.

June 7, 1816: Widespread snow and flurries from Connecticut to northern New England.

June 11, 1842: 12" snowfall in Irasburg, VT.

July 1, 1988: 4" snowfall at the summit of Mount Washington.

August 17, 1879: 2" snow on Mount Washington.

August 28, 1816: Frost in parts of New England.

September 9, 1994: Trace of snow in Worcester.