1798 — Nov 17-21, New England Blizzard and Maritime Storm — >200
— >200 Blanchard figure.[1]
–Hundreds. Flexner and Flexner. A Pessimist’s Guide to History. 2008, p. 104.
— >25 Maritime component.[2]
Narrative Information
Flexner and Flexner: “1798: New England Blizzard. High winds and driving snow lasting from November 17 to 21 buried houses in New England under great snowdrifts. Hundreds of people died.” (Flexner and Flexner. A Pessimist’s Guide to History. 2008, p. 104.)
Ludlum: “After a rainy November 19th, ‘at night it began to snow and continued through the 20th, a violent gale, snow fell on the earth when not frozen, a foot deep,’ Noah Webster related in his diary at New Haven. His thermometer went down to +12° on the morning of the 22d, also an extreme figure for the commencement of the last week in November.[3]
“Farther north along the coast the storm raged even more savagely. At Salem a mixture of rain and snow, then sleet and snow fell from the 19th to the 21st, piling up a total of 10 inches.[4] But inland and northward it was all snow. Many town histories of southeastern New Hampshire and southern Maine described this storm as exceptional. Joseph Philbrook of Weare, New Hampshire, entered in his diary: ‘Nov. 19, 1798–snow fell for three days, in the whole about three feet deep, a tremendous storm.’[5] At York, Maine, Jeremiah Weare, Jr. mentioned a five-day snowfall from the 17th to 21st: ‘the snow is near 3 feet deep on a level.’[6] This snow was destined to remain all winter….
“The November storm also struck hard at sea, taking a human toll that would not be equaled for 100 years until the tragedies attending another November blow, the Portland Storm of 1898.[7] Many vessels were wrecked on the shores of Cape Cod as cemetery tombstones will testify. At least seven vessels went to pieces on that sandy promontory with the loss of all aboard, and the bodies of 25 sailors later were taken from bilged ships and buried ashore.”[8] (Ludlum. “The Long Winter of 1798-99,” pp. 74-75 in Early American Winters, 1604-1820.)
National Weather Service: “Nov 21, 1798. A four day storm was in progress in the north-eastern US. The storm dropped a foot of snow on New York City and New Haven, and as much
as three feet in Maine and New Hampshire. The snowstorm ushered in a long and severe winter, in some places the ground remained covered with snow until the following May.” (NWS. Weather trivia for November (webpage). Accessed 10-22-2017.)
Sources
Flexner, Doris and Stuart Berg Flexner. A Pessimist’s Guide to History: An Irresistible Compendium of Catastrophes, Barbarities, Massacres, and Mayhem – From 14 Billion Years Ago to 2007. New York: Harper Collins, 2008.
Ludlum, David M. Early American Winters 1604-1820. Boston: American Meteorological Society, 1966.
National Weather Service, NOAA. Weather trivia for November (webpage). Accessed 10-22-2017 at: https://www.weather.gov/ddc/novtrivia
[1] We do not know how many hundreds; thus we assume that, if accurate, there must have been at least 200 deaths.
[2] Ludlum notes 25 bodies pulled from wrecked ships at Cape Cod alone, while also noting that “at least seven vessels went to pieces” there. It seems probable that other vessels were lost elsewhere.
[3] Cites Noah Webster, Notes, 1, p. 488.
[4] Cites: Edward A. Holyoke. A meteorological journal for the year 1786 to the year 1829, inclusive. Enoch Hale, ed. Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts & Science. (Boston), ns. 1, (1833), 107.
[5] Cites: Diary of Joseph Philbrook. William Little, History of Weare, Lowell, Mass., S. W. Huse & Co., 1888, 370.
[6] Cites: Diary of Jeremiah Weare, Jr. C. E. Banks. History of York, Maine, 181.
[7] We show a range of 450-500 deaths for the Nov 26-27 Portland Gale, including loss of the SS Portland.
[8] Cites: Edward R. Snow. A pilgrim returns to Cape Cod. Boston, The Yankee Publishing Co., 1946, 122; Salem Gaz., 30 Nov 1798.