We klagen nu vrij algemeen over het gebrek aan winter de afgelopen jaren, het kan ook anders. De periode 1811-1817 staat bekend om zijn koude zomers. Met name 1816 staat in New England bekend als "The Year Without a Summer".
In Europa waren er hongersnoden, de Zwitserse overheid vertelde haar burgers welke grassoorten eetbaar waren uit angst dat men de verkeerde grassen ging eten en de Ierse uittocht naar de VS begon (door de mislukte aardappeloogsten). De KNMI site met waarnemingen voor Zwanenburg laat op 9 juni zien dat de temperatuur varieerde tussen de 5 en de 8C!
Enkele quotes:
"Melancholy Weather
Some account was given . . . of the unparalleled severity of the weather. It continued, without any essential amelioration, from the 6th to the 10th instant -- freezing as hard five nights in succession as it usually does in December. On the night of the 6th, water froze an inch thick -- and on the night of the 7th and morning of the 8th, a kind of sleet or exceeding cold snow fell, attended with high wind, which measured in places where it was drifted, 18 to 20 inches in depth. Saturday morning the weather was more severe than it generally is during the storms of winter.
-- North Star, Danville, VT, June 15, 1816"
(http://www.vtonly.com/hstyjul7.htm)
"The Infamous 'Year Without A Summer'
Of the cold summers in the period 1811 to 1817, the year 1816 has gone down in the annals of New England history as "The Year There Was No Summer," the "Poverty Year" and "Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death." The year began with a moderate but dry winter. Spring was tardy and continued very dry. The growing season from late spring to early fall, however, was punctuated by a series of devastating cold waves that did major damage to the crops and greatly reduced the food supply. In areas of central and northern New England, the summer had only two extended periods without frost or near freezing temperatures. A widespread snow fell in June. As a result, corn did not ripen and hay, fruits, and vegetables were greatly reduced in quantity and quality."
(http://www.indodigest.com/indonesia-special-article-20.html)
"The unusual climate aberrations of 1816 had the greatest effect on the American northeast, the Canadian Maritimes, Newfoundland, and northern Europe. Typically, the late spring and summer of the northeastern U.S. are relatively stable: temperatures (average of both day and night) average about 68–77°F (20–25°C), and rarely fall below 41°F (5°C). Summer snow is an extreme rarity, though May flurries sometimes occur.
In May of 1816, however, frost killed off most of the crops that had been planted, and in June two large snowstorms in eastern Canada and New England resulted in many human deaths. Nearly a foot of snow was observed in Quebec City in early June. In July and August, lake and river ice were observed as far south as Pennsylvania. Rapid, dramatic temperature swings were common, with temperatures sometimes reverting from normal or above-normal summer temperatures as high as 95°F (35°C) to near-freezing within hours. Even though farmers south of New England did succeed in bringing some crops to maturity, maize (corn) and other grain prices rose dramatically. Oats, for example, rose from 12¢ a bushel the previous year to 92¢ a bushel."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer)
Een achteraf grappige samenloop van omstandigheden is wel dat twee schrijvers gelijktijdig in Zwitserland op vakantie waren in dat jaar. Het weer inspireerde de schrijvers tot hun verhalen. Marc Shelley schreef Frankenstein en John William Polidori schreef Vampyre wat een sterke invloed had op Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Quote selectie