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Nature - General & Miscellaneous, Natural Literature & History, Weather, Meteorology & Atmospheric Science - Weather
American Weather Stories by Patrick Hughes β€” book cover

American Weather Stories

by Patrick Hughes, N. O. a. a.
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Overview

American weather has helped shape our culture, national character, folklore, and conversation. It has frequented the pages of our history and, at times, changed its course.

The stories that follow trace the American weather experience from the hurricanes that threatened Columbus and colonial settlers to the peculiar run of bad weather that has plagued American presidents on Inauguration Day; from Americans who documented the weather and climate of the Revolutionary and Civil War eras to those who suffered through the "year without a summer," the Blizzard of '88, and the dust-bowl drought of the 1930's.

Contents:

American Weather
Acknowledgments
Hurricanes Haunt Our History
Early American Weathermen
The Year Without a Summer
View From a Civil War Cornfield
The Blizzard of '88
Drought: The Land Killer
The Weather on Inauguration Day
Photo Credits

Synopsis

American weather has helped shape our culture, national character, folklore, and conversation. It has frequented the pages of our history and, at times, changed its course.

The stories that follow trace the American weather experience from the hurricanes that threatened Columbus and colonial settlers to the peculiar run of bad weather that has plagued American presidents on Inauguration Day; from Americans who documented the weather and climate of the Revolutionary and Civil War eras to those who suffered through the "year without a summer," the Blizzard of '88, and the dust-bowl drought of the 1930's.

Contents:

American Weather
Acknowledgments
Hurricanes Haunt Our History
Early American Weathermen
The Year Without a Summer
View From a Civil War Cornfield
The Blizzard of '88
Drought: The Land Killer
The Weather on Inauguration Day
Photo Credits

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Editorials

Library Journal - BookSmack!

I went to the Blizzard of Ozz in 1995, but the blizzard of January 1996 halted New York City mail, closed the UN, and made folks cross-country ski through Times Square. Still, this was nothing compared to the storm that struck in 1888. Though Saturday, March 10, was warm and sunny, within 36 hours, temps fell close to zero, and the wind chill was down to minus 70. "The East River froze and people walked between Manhattan and Brooklyn...there were snowdrifts almost 30 feet deep in Herald Square in Manhattan." Fires raged out of control because fire engines could not reach them. All in all, more than 200 New Yorkers perished. Hughes's account is particularly gruesome: pedestrians were "sprayed with flying glass from shattered windows, and occasionally felled by falling chimneys or flying signs." It's a bittersweet story, though, as the work required to clear the snow "proved a financial blessing to the city's poor." Any man or boy able to lift a shovel could make at least double the normal laborer's wages." Douglas Lord, "Books for Dudes," Booksmack! 10/7/10

Book Details

Published
August 1, 2006
Publisher
Fredonia Books (NL)
Pages
128
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781410109132

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