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From: Shawn Whitney <>
Subject: [WHITNEY-L] 1816 weather
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2000 08:28:50 -0800


Hello WRG
Has anyone heard of this before? I received it off of another list. If
this really happened, I certainly have never heard of it.
Just wondering,
Shawn Whitney
Seattle, WA

>I am going to pass on a tidbit of Info 1816: The year without a summer
>
>As a result of the eruption of MT. Tambour Volcano in Java 1815, 12,000

>island residents lost their lives. The Volcano is also to blame for an

>unusual weather pattern the following year in North America, resulting
in
>mass migrations of people trying to avoid the ensuing climatic changes.

>
>The summer of 1816 was unusually cold, with killing frosts and even
>snowfall destroying crops throughout the United States. June and July
were
>the coldest months, 19 states had snowfall in June! There were no fall

>harvests; animals and people starved; wild animals ravaged the
frontier.
>Not understanding the meteorological causes, people blamed the wrath of
God
>for their hardships. Some, destitute and despondent, committed
suicide.
>
>By 1817 the climate had returned to normal. However, many had moved to

>warmer parts of the country and numerous farmers left for the cities to
go
>into industrial work.
>
>If you have no explanation for why your ancestor may have migrated or
you
>can not determine exactly when it happened just sometime around
1815-1820
>consider that this event may have been the cause.
>
>>From the Jefferson Co. Genealogical Society Newsletter, Jefferson
City,
TN.
>Feb. 1995




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