Weather rambling — October 1894

Maury Thompson
3 min readOct 4, 2024

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The dry spell broke and sawmills, which depended on waterpower, reopened.

“Owing to local rains in the Adirondack region, the river raised a few inches yesterday,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on Oct. 3, 1894. “Seven gates were operated at Freeman’s Dam, and part of the sawing machinery was started in the Glens Falls mills.”

There was snow in Hamilton County in the middle of the month.

“Two inches of snow fell at Blue Mountain Lake and vicinity yesterday,” The Morning Star reported on Oct. 20.

“A heavy wind accompanied by hail struck this settlement last Wednesday (Oct. 24). It scattered two stacks of hay belonging to Sardis Otis. It carried a lumber wagon belonging to Ben Colbert about twenty rods (110 yards),” The Granville Sentinel reported on Oct. 26.

The next day the weather in Glens Falls was pleasant.

“The fleecy clouds that hid the sun in the early morning hours yesterday were dispelled later in the day. The gloom gave way to bright, warm sunshine, and notably put in one of her most radiant smiles,” The Morning Star reported on Oct. 26.

“Another evidence of delightfully mild weather can be found in the fact that Charles H. Griffen yesterday picked two clusters of full bloom and perfectly developed roses in his yard on Prospect Street,” The Morning Star reported on Oct. 31. “Mr. Griffen is also gathering a profusion of sweet peas, having thirty-three varieties. Some of the vines have attained the height of eleven feet and one inch.”

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

1876

“Tuesday morning the Adirondacks were capped with snow,” the Ticonderoga Sentinel reported on Oct. 20. “Sunday was quite a cold day. Stray snowflakes were occasionally seen weeping down, telling us that stern winter is near at hand.”

1879

  • “The buckwheat cake will soon be ripe. There was a severe frost Monday night. … The voice of the cider mill is heard in the land,” the Ticonderoga Sentinel reported on Oct. 17.
  • “Cold weather and a hard frost last night,” the Moriah Center correspondent reported in the Ticonderoga Sentinel reported on Oct. 24.
  • “We have received the following message for our readers: ‘Get on your underclothes.’ Signed, Jack Frost.”
  • “The high wind of Thursday blew down the billboard opposite Ostrander’s store and frightened a horse hitched near by so that he broke loose and ran away. He was stopped on the flats before much damage had been done,” the Ticonderoga Sentinel reported on Oct. 31.

1887

”The first snowstorm of the season occurred on Oct. 12. The mountains in the north part of town were white,” the Johnsburg correspondent reported in The Morning Star on Oct. 14.

1890

“The first snowfall of the season fell at Warrensburg Thursday night. While it was raining here and at Caldwell, it was snowing at the ‘burgh,” The Morning Star reported on Oct. 25. “The top of the Warrensburg stage which connected with the train at Lake George yesterday morning was covered to the depth of an inch and a half with the fleecy substance. It is alleged that eight inches of snow fell at Indian Lake the same night.”

Click here to read the most recent previous Weather Rambling post.

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Maury Thompson

Freelance history writer and documentary film producer from Ticonderoga, NY