Weather Doctor's Weather People and History: Eighteen Hundred and Froze To Death, The Year There Was No Summer

Weather Doctor's Weather People and History: Eighteen Hundred and Froze To Death, The Year There Was No Summer: "Of the cold summers in the period 1811 to 1817, the year 1816 has gone down in the annals of New England history as "The Year There Was No Summer," the "Poverty Year" and "Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death." The year began with a moderate but dry winter. Spring was tardy and continued very dry. The growing season from late spring to early fall, however, was punctuated by a series of devastating cold waves that did major damage to the crops and greatly reduced the food supply. In areas of central and northern New England, the summer had only two extended periods without frost or near freezing temperatures. A widespread snow fell in June. As a result, corn did not ripen and hay, fruits, and vegetables were greatly reduced in quantity and quality.

From contemporary newspaper accounts and diary entries as well as a small network of stations at which meteorological conditions were recorded daily, it is possible document the turn of events in the summer of 1816."

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