Weather rambling — May 1894

“The first day of May!” The Morning Star of Glens Falls proclaimed on May 1, 1894. “It is suggestive of vernal flowers and a general awakening of nature.”

Mother Nature did not disappoint, bringing temperatures of between 80 and 85 degrees in the Glens Falls vicinity.

“An additional evidence of the advent of spring was found in the fact that the open cars, fresh and attractive in their new coats of paint, were pressed into service yesterday for regular trips along the electric road.”

Picnics, too, were enjoyed.

“A number of the people from here (Glens Falls) held a picnic on the banks of the river in South Glens Falls, above the dam, yesterday afternoon,” The Morning Star reported on May 3.

“The pleasant sound of the lawn mower is once more heard in the land,” The Morning Star reported on May 4.

Farm work was ahead of schedule.

“The rains of Saturday and Sunday have done wonders for vegetation. Quite a number of our farmers are done sowing,” the Putnam correspondent reported in The Granville Sentinel on May 4.

“The jocund spring, when refrigerators resume their importance in the household, has come, and even the best housekeepers are reminded of the necessity of keeping them cleaner than any other thing in the house.” The Granville Sentinel reported on May 11.

A windstorm was not such a pleasant sound.

“The wind Monday afternoon blew like a small cyclone,” the Warrensburg correspondent reported in The Morning Star on May 12. “It broke a tree in the dooryard of Robert Jarvis and another in the yard of Misses Richards. It struck the Warren House with such force that it blew a big rocking chair off of the plaza and carried it about thirty feet, breaking it badly.”

The storm turned the temperature colder.

“Farmers in some parts of Queensbury reported a frost yesterday morning,” The Morning Star reported on May 15.

“Frost has been playing havoc with gardens in the village for several nights past, and many who set out early tomatoes and had their beans well along now wish they hadn’t.” The Morning Star reported on May 16.

“Jack Frost gave us a call Sunday and Monday nights. We have no particular grudge against Jack Frost, only would prefer that he call before house cleaning time,” the South Hartford correspondent reported in The Granville Sentinel on May 18.

There was optimism for other crops.

“Farmers in Warren, Clinton and Washington counties report that the hay crop will be an unusually large one this year,” The Morning Star reported on May 16.

“Farmers are about through planting, and rather more than the usual acreage of corn and potatoes are planted. Oats and grass are looking fine since the rain of Friday night,” the Hartford correspondent reported in The Granville Sentinel on May 25.

“Corn is up, and the farmers have begun a warfare on the crows,” the Johnsburg correspondent reported in The Morning Star on May 26.

“Grasshoppers, bees, and insects of all descriptions have made their appearance earlier this season than ever known before,” The Granville Sentinel reported on May 25.

In other May weather news collected from historic newspapers of the region:

1877

“Plum and cherry trees are in full bloom. Farmers are busy plowing. Onion growers are busy hoeing them for the first time,” the Factoryville correspondent reported in the Ticonderoga Sentinel on May 18.

1883

“Last Sunday the weather was so warm and summery that the merry mosquitoes took to themselves wings and started out for their annual blood-thirsty expeditions,” the Glens Falls Messenger reported on May 25, 1883. “The cold rain of Monday and the north wind of Tuesday sent them back to their winter hiding places, while the busy farmers planted corn in their overcoats.”

1891

“Farmers are well advanced with their spring’s work. The weather has been favorable for rapid work,” The Granville Sentinel reported on May 15, “Sunday, atmospherically speaking, was a scorcher. Many shed their heavy clothing only to have a cold wave strike them Monday.”

“Many of our farmers have finished planting potatoes,” the Hebron correspondent reported.

Cold weather was not done yet.

“There was quite a heavy frost Tuesday morning,” The Granville Sentinel reported on May 22.

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