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Archiver > GLAMORGAN > 2002-04 > 1018009804


From: Sue Mackay <>
Subject: Re: [GLA] Weather in June
Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 13:30:04 +0100
In-Reply-To: <de.24f4b2fd.29dea460@aol.com>


At 01:55 05/04/02 -0500, wrote:

>Don't worry about snow - unheard of in June. Just bear in mind this little
>poem

Unusual, but not unheard of. In 1991 I was watching Wimbledon on TV with
snowflakes falling outside. Almost exactly 100 years prior to that there
was also unseasonal weather. My 2xgreat grandfather, Thomas BLACKLOCK, died
in London in May 1891. While browsing through the Illustrated London News I
looked to see if there was an obituary or death notice for him. There
wasn't, but there was a very interesting weather report. "The extraordinary
and unprecedented changes in the weather have been the subject of general
comment. Between Wednesday May 13 and Saturday May 16 the thermometer fell
from 72 degrees in the shade to 27 degrees, and on Saturday night was as
low as 21 degrees Fahrenheit on the grass. Snow fell thickly both on
Saturday and Sunday nights and on Monday morning the country in many parts
of England was covered with at least two inches of snow, which fell so
heavily as to cover the trees and to bend down smaller growths with its
weight. For prolonged cold and for the sudden and violent change of
temperature with which it was ushered in the weather is probably unexampled
since 1832, when as in 1802 and 1816 deep falls of snow occurred. On May 22
1867 the Derby was run in a snowstorm, but the fall was not so prolonged as
on the present occasion." One week after this freak snowstorm Thomas
Blacklock died of pneumonia.

Sue



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