The blizzard has ended and Ma is right, there is an Indian Summer. Personally, I have never experienced a blizzard before Indian Summer!
I have to admit that the very first thing I did, a few years back, when I was able to get a hold of The Polar and Tropical Worlds by Dr. G. Hartwig (Pa’s “Big Green Book”) was to look for the page with the Great Auk.
The “little auk” won’t or can’t eat anything that they offer to it. With the warmer weather, the ice is starting to melt on Silver Lake so they decide to set it free there. Pa had to set it on the water, as that is the only way it could take flight. They never knew what kind of bird it was, nor did they ever see another like it. Another oddity of this strange weather. As they watch it fly away, Laura and Pa both listen to the silence. Laura describes it as terror. Laura’s heart jumped and jumped, trying to get away from it. How eerie.
Sunny days follow the blizzard, bringing with it sunshine and warmth. Laura and Mary enjoy walks every day. Carrie and Grace play near the house. Laura finds herself constantly looking to the north as they take their walks. She can’t shake the same peculiar feeling that Pa has. How many times will they keep an eye to the sky during that long, hard winter? They are spending as much time outdoors as possible, storing up all the sunshine and fresh air that they could. Ma says, “It will soon be winter and you’ll have to stay indoors.” Little did they know!
Again, Pa says that it’s going to be a hard winter. Things just do not feel right. The silence is strange. He cannot explain his feelings. “I don’t like the feel of things, myself,” he said. “This weather seems to be holding back something that it might let loose any minute. If I were a wild animal, I’d hunt my hole and dig it plenty deep. If I were a wild goose, I’d spread my wings and get out of here.” Pa seems to have such a feeling of urgency. Nature is trying to warn him about the ominous winter that is approaching.
Did they have a beautiful Indian Summer after the October blizzard so that they would enjoy the nice weather and appreciate and store up for the long winter ahead? Or perhaps Laura remembered, many years later, Indian Summer in this way simply because she knew what came next.
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Hi! According to weather records in the region, after the October blizzard mid-month, temperatures rose back up into the 40s and 50s (and even up to around 60 a couple of days) for almost a month, until a colder spell and possibly another snow hit around November 8-11. It probably felt great at the time after such an early snow, and even better in retrospect with how cold and long the subsequent winter was!
–Barb Mayes Boustead (meteorologist and LIW fan)
Hey barb. My name is Stephen tate. I live in East Tennessee. How’s my winter going to be here :).
Hi Stephen! It looks like the odds are tilting slightly toward a chance for a warmer-than-normal winter in your area. Signals for precipitation aren’t very clear-cut, so it looks like you’ve got equal chances to be above, near, or below normal. This is based on the outlook from the Climate Prediction Center (http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/), and it’s due to update next week, so stay tuned!
Barb, thanks! That’s fascinating to know.
Barb, how interesting! Do you know about how many blizzards they had to endure that winter?
You might find out more about that at Laurapalooza! 🙂 *teaser alert* I’ve submitted an abstract, so we’ll see pretty soon what made the agenda!
I would love to know where historical weather records for this period can be found. I consider myself internet-savvy, and have had very little luck other than anecdotal accounts. I would like to see actual weather statistics, if they even exist on the internet!
Don’t feel too bad! The weather data from that far back usually aren’t online. You can get them from the National Climatic Data Center or the South Dakota State Climate office, but there isn’t much available. There just weren’t very many established official weather stations in the area at the time, with the settlements being so new.
Hey barb. We have had several 1 to 2 inch snows till Tuesday and we got 4 inches….. School been out all week here 🙂
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