Today is the 175th anniversary of the "Sudden Change" event in Illinois

[Hoar_Frost]

A reasonable description of this event is given in this link:

http://www.islandnet...uddenchange.htm

On 20 December 1836, 175 years ago today, a "sudden change" or "sudden freeze" took place in Illinois and adjacent portions of the central Midwest. Accounts, though, suggest that it was most "sudden" in Illinois. This "sudden change" was, essentially, a very strong cold front that caused temperatures to drop 40-50 degrees in the matter of a few hours. Since this occurred 175 years ago, the population was rather vulnerable. Hence, accounts suggest that many livestock and people journeying died of hypothermia after being caught by surprise. Of course, many of the accounts are a bit far-fetched, but the fact that people from many parts of the state remembered this event many years later shows that the event was sufficiently significant as to leave a long-lasting impression.

It is interesting that this event occurred in the midst of several other historic winters in the early and mid-1830's--perhaps most historic being the winter of 1830-1831.

[jbcmh81]

A reasonable description of this event is given in this link:

http://www.islandnet...uddenchange.htm

On 20 December 1836, 175 years ago today, a "sudden change" or "sudden freeze" took place in Illinois and adjacent portions of the central Midwest. Accounts, though, suggest that it was most "sudden" in Illinois. This "sudden change" was, essentially, a very strong cold front that caused temperatures to drop 40-50 degrees in the matter of a few hours. Since this occurred 175 years ago, the population was rather vulnerable. Hence, accounts suggest that many livestock and people journeying died of hypothermia after being caught by surprise. Of course, many of the accounts are a bit far-fetched, but the fact that people from many parts of the state remembered this event many years later shows that the event was sufficiently significant as to leave a long-lasting impression.

It is interesting that this event occurred in the midst of several other historic winters in the early and mid-1830's--perhaps most historic being the winter of 1830-1831.

Reminds me of December 14th-15th, 1901 here. An early high of 65 on the 14th dropped 41 degrees during the day to a low of 14. 14 was the high on the 15th, and the temp continued to drop to a low of -4 for a total drop of 69 degrees. The week leading up to this event was very warm, with a mean during the 7th-13th of 40 degrees. The week after, December 15th-21st, the mean was just 6.4.

[michsnowfreak]

Thanks for posting this! I love reading about events of the past. I had heard of this briefly before, but never read such a detailed story on it!

[Hoar_Frost]

jbcmh81: I am also reminded of the 1901 event to which you refer.

No problem, michsnowfreak. Previously, I had never really found anything too detailed about this event, either. But, I was reading some thread (can't remember which one now, unfortunately) on here the other day that mentioned the severe winters of the 1830's. Reminded of the 1830's winters, I did some light web research into them (again), and this article about this event arose fairly easily from a Google search.