Weather rambling — ‘Winter’s Last Kick’

There was finally a sign of Spring when the calendar turned from April to May, but it wasn’t necessarily a welcome one.

“Our village people were entertained yesterday by the musical notes of a hand organ and the liveliness of a monkey accompanying it,” The Commercial Advertiser of Sandy sarcastically reported on May 5, 1880.

There were still some cold nights, with heavy frost and iced-over puddles at some places in southern Washington County.

All-in-all, the weather was favorable enough for farmers to begin seasonal work.

“The corn is nearly all planted in the vicinity. The grass crop never looked more promising at this season of the year than it does now,” The Commercial Advertiser reported on May 18.

“The farmers in this region have nearly all their crops in and many vegetable gardens are looking well, but the potato bug has come,” The Commercial Advertiser reported on May 26.

1890

A decade later, “Winter’s Last Kick” was the headline.

“At Chestertown last Sunday snow fell, and Champlain and that section was visited by a snowstorm Sunday night,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on May 1, 1890. “At Middlebury, Vt. Sunday morning, there was an inch of snow on the ground.”

A.P. Root of Glens Falls, who was supervising a Finch, Pruyn & Co. log drive at Tahawus, in Essex County, reported that three inches of snow fell the previous Saturday.

“About two inches of snow fell Saturday night, followed by a thunder shower about midnight,” The Glen’s Falls Messenger reported on May 2.

“The two weeks pleasant but dry weather ended Saturday evening when cold rain, accompanied with snow and hail, set in,” The Granville Sentinel reported on May 2.

May 1890 would be colder and wetter than usual, much to the angst of farmers.

“Yesterday morning there was a white frost here, but the damage to the early vegetables was slight,” The Morning Star reported on May 3.

“A cool wave is predicted by the signal bureau,” The Morning Star reported on May 7.

The signal bureau was right.

“The cool wave arrived, as was predicted,” The Morning Star reported on May 8.

“A heavy white frost settled down upon the farms of Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties Thursday night, and early plant life was badly chilled, if not blighted,” The Granville Sentinel reported on May 2.

The North Creek correspondent reported on May 9 that it was the coldest spring on record.

“Cattle are pasturing and farmers are progressing with spring work.”

April showers came about a month late.

“An abundance of spring showers for the present, thank you!” The Morning Star reported on May 14.

“All nature is clothed in her superb loveliness of green,” The Granville Sentinel reported on May 15.

“More rain! Is this Prophet Brady’s dry season?” The Morning Star reported on May 17.

April showers bring May flowers, but May showers bring late planting.

“Farmers are getting disheartened over the wet weather,” the South Hartford correspondent of The Morning Star reported on May 21. “Scarcely any planting has yet been done, and but little has been accomplished in the gardens.”

Yet there was a sign of hope.

“The seats were placed in the park yesterday,” the Sandy Hill correspondent reported in The Morning Star on May 22.

The weather was ideal for an excursion.

“Several of the young lady pupils at the Glens Falls Academy enjoyed a drive into the country on Saturday,” The Morning Star reported on May 25. “They found Nature in the loveliest May-day garb, and presenting an appearance that could not fail to command admiration.”

It was a pleasant break from generally unpleasant weather.

“On account of the cold and wet weather farmers are late with their work, and very little planting has been done yet,” The Morning Star reported on May 27. “Jupiter Pluvius held full court yesterday and last evening. The streets are almost as muddy as in April. The farmers scowl, and nature, herself, frowns at the frequent ablutions.”

The extensive rain “caused a setback to farmers,” the Johnsburg correspondent to The Morning Star reported on May 29.

“The ground in places is so wet that it is impossible to get crops in.”

The wet weather put a damper on baseball fever.

“Never before in the history of baseball have so many games been postponed by reason of bad weather as there was this spring,” The Glen’s Falls Messenger reported on May 23. “They are cutting a big hole in the profits.”

The wet weather, however, was good for the strawberry crop.

“The picking of the strawberry crop along the Hudson has begun. The berries are large, juicy and of fine flavor,” The Morning Star reported on May 29.

The weather turned “perfect” for Memorial Day.

“The sky was sapphire and the sun shone with mellowing warmth. The air was balmy with odor of leaf and flower and resonant with twitter of birds,” The Morning Star reported on May 31. “Altogether it was a perfect day.”

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