Weather rambling — Feb. 1894
Warren County residents were not looking for an early end to winter in February 1894, and before all was said and done, they would get more snow than was bargained for.
“The same people that a few weeks ago were murmuring because we did not have any snow are now kicking because we are getting so much. … Some people are never satisfied,” the Stony Creek correspondent reported in The Morning Star of Glens Falls on Feb. 17.
At the beginning of the month, though, the snow had been welcome.
“About seven or eight inches of snow fell here Monday night and Tuesday, which is appreciated by about everybody,” The Warrensburg correspondent to The Morning Star wrote on Feb. 1.
“The recent fall of snow was very welcome to the owners of fast horses in Glens Falls, as it improved the sleighing immensely,” The Morning Star reported on Feb. 2.
“About seven inches of snow fell here on Monday, the heaviest fall of snow we have seen this season,” the Hague correspondent wrote on Feb. 1.
“The snow fall here was about fourteen inches, and now lies in drifts,” the North Creek correspondent wrote on Feb. 1. “The wind was a perfect tornado. The lumbermen are happy.”
Washington County also had snow.
“About five inches of snow fell Tuesday, and the storm threated to be a blizzard,” the Salem correspondent reported in The Granville Sentinel on Feb. 2. ”The first good sleighing of this season is being improved and enjoyed.”
About 13 inches of snow fell at Indian Lake, in Hamilton County.
There was a warming trend.
“A few days like yesterday will make our sleighing a thing of the past,” the Fort Edward correspondent reported in The Morning Star on Feb. 9.
“The snowstorm yesterday came just in time to put a nice top dressing on the sleighing, but it will not last long unless colder weather sets in,” The Morning Star reported on Feb. 10. “The snow fell very fast in the early afternoon, but it was wet and covered everything with a feathery white.”
Uncertainty over the duration of sleighing ended with the arrival of the worst blizzard since that of March 1888.
“Yesterday afternoon, starting before five o’clock, snow began falling in an aimless sort of way. The crystals were very light and small, and they settled quietly down upon the streets without any great bluster,” The Morning Star reported on Feb. 13. “Inside an hour the face of things changed, for a cold, biting wind came out of the northeast, falling thickly and fast, and the wind blew the particles down your coat collar and made you generally uncomfortable.”
It didn’t take a weather expert to recognize that the blizzard that started in western states had made its way to the east.
“By midnight, over a foot of snow had fallen and the storm had developed into the severest of the season. … All the weather predictors yesterday foretold a heavy snowstorm for the region last night, and Glens Falls people who had to be out were aware of the fact that it had arrived.”
Workers kept trolleys and trains, for the most part, running on time, much to the surprise of passengers.
“The snowplow and two cars were kept running on the electric road all Monday night, and, as a consequence, the track was in good condition in the morning and cars began running as usual,” The Morning Star reported on Feb. 14. “Trips were made all day, almost on scheduled time. Such slight delays as occurred were mainly due to disabled motors.”
One train was delayed.
“The north-bound sleeper was over two hours late in reaching Fort Edward yesterday morning, but all other trains on the main branch were on time during the day.”
It was not the last of the snow.
“Glens Falls was again visited with a heavy snowstorm yesterday. It began about two o’clock in the morning and continued all day,” The Morning Star reported on Feb. 16. “On account of the depth of the snow on the streets, Chief Engineer Cunningham has made arrangements with H.R. Leavens & Co. to put a pair of sleighs in the Lapham hose house for use in transporting hose in case of fire.”
On Feb. 17, the temperature ranged from 15 to 21 below zero at Glens Falls, was 22 below at Warrensburg and 16 below at Caldwell.
There was a drastic thaw on Feb. 18.
“It rained and thawed all day, and the weather was decidedly spring like,” The Morning Star reported on Feb. 19. “If Mark Twain lived in this section, he would have to revise his story about New England weather.”
The spring-like weather did not last.
“The sleighing is elegant on nearly all our roads,” the Chestertown correspondent reported in The Morning Star on Feb. 24.
“People who had to be out on the streets yesterday afternoon had a merry time of it.” The Morning Star reported on Feb. 24. “The wind blew a gale all day, and it picked up all the loose snow and whirled it in eddies around the corners. The air was biting and keen, and the wind pierced through the heaviest ulster.”
On Feb. 24, the temperature was 23 below zero at the home of Jacob Van Husten on the west end of Glens Falls.
“The clerk of the weather bureau still keeps all his cold drafts open. He has apparently entered into a combination with the coal dealers,” The Morning Star reported on Feb. 26. “It is severe on humanity in general, and on the poor, in particular.”
The morning of Feb. 25, it was 38 degrees below zero at Horicon and 40 below at Warrensburg.
By the end of February, people were ready for sleighing to end.
“The air was filled with the balmy progress of coming spring yesterday, and the crosswalk and sidewalks were covered with slush and water that was not quite so balmy, especially for those without rubbers,” The Morning Star reported on March 1. “But one forgot their little discomforts in the happy reflection that the reign of winter was nearly over. … The hot rays of the sun played havoc with the sleighing, and one more day like yesterday will finish it.”
In other February weather news collected from historic newspapers of the region:
1892
“Ideal winter weather,” The Granville Sentinel reported on Feb. 8.
It did not stay ideal.
“Saturday morning was the coldest of the season so far. Different reports from this neighborhood give it all the way from twelve to twenty below,” the Sandy Hill correspondent reported in The Granville Sentinel on Feb. 12.
Apparently, it warmed back up.
“The most exacting could not ask for more superb winter weather than this,” The Granville Sentinel reported on Feb. 19.
For a moment, it seemed like Spring.
“The weather caught a cold Friday night,” The Granville Sentinel reported on Feb. 26. “Friday the mercury was 50 degrees above zero, and people were listening for the robin’s chirp. The weather began to grow shortly after six, and by midnight the mercury was down to zero.”
1890
“Our icemen greet everyone with a beaming countenance, as the weather is good for the ice harvest,” the Sandy Hill correspondent reported in The Morning Star on Feb. 20.
The ice on Wood Creek was 12 inches thick and of good quality as Philip Riley & Co. prepared to construct six ice houses with capacity for 6,000 tons of ice.
The optimism was premature.
“The prospects are discouraging for those who had the ice marked out and intended on harvesting a large crop of ice on Wood Creek,” The Morning Star reported on Feb. 28. “The crop of ice is several inches under water, and the flats along the river are flooded.”
Conditions on the Hudson River were not promising.
“The ice in the river is growing very thin, owing to the rising of the water and the warm weather. It has not been frozen over entirely this winter,” the Fort Edward correspondent reported in The Morning Star on Feb. 21.
This prompted new ice harvesting ventures in localities with solid ice.
“Several Glens Falls gentlemen have purchased an ice claim at South Bay, Lake Champlain, about two miles north of Whitehall, and will today put a force of men at work harvesting the same,” The Morning Star reported on Feb. 21. “It is intended to cut several thousand tons, which will be stacked at a point convenient to the railroad at that place, and later it will be shipped to New York City dealers.”
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