The year 1816 was known as ‘The Year Without a Summer’ in New England because six inches of snow fell in June and every month of the year had a hard frost. 
Temperatures dropped to as low as 40 degrees in July and August as far south as Connecticut. People also called it ‘Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death’ and the ‘Poverty Year.’
The Year Without A Summer had a far-reaching impact. Crop failures caused hoarding and big price increases for agricultural commodities. People went hungry. Farmers gave up trying to make a living in New England and started heading west. Politicians who ignored the melancholy plight of their constituents found themselves out of office.
And to this day, scientists don’t agree on what caused the bizarre weather in The Year Without a Summer.
Year Without a Summer
There were warm days in the spring of 1816, but they were followed by cold snaps. In Salem, Mass., for example, it was 74 degrees on April 24. Within 30 hours the temperature dropped to 21 degrees.
Thomas Robbins, the East Windsor, Conn., bibliophile, noticed the late spring. He wrote in his diary, ‘the vegetation does not seem to advance at all.’
On May 12, strong winds and freezing temperatures from Canada killed the buds on fruit trees. Inch-thick ice formed on ponds and streams from Maine to Upstate New York. By the end of May, corn plants froze in central Maine.
Then on June 6, 1816, six inches of snow fell on New England. Clockmaker Chauncey Jerome wrote in his autobiography that he walked to work that day in Plymouth, Conn., wearing heavy woolen clothes, an overcoat and mittens.
Chauncey Jerome wore mittens in June during the Year Without a Summer.
Flurries fell in Boston the next day, the latest ever recorded. The snow was 18 inches deep in Cabot, Vt., on June 8. On June 11, a temperature of 30.5 degrees was recorded in Williamstown, Mass. Frozen birds dropped dead in the fields. Some Vermont farmers who had already shorn their sheep tried to tie their fleeces back on, but many froze to death anyway.
Benjamin Harwood, a Bennington, Vt., farmer, wrote in his diary that it rained all night then began to snow from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The heads of all the mountains on every side were crowned with snow. The most gloomy and extraordinary weather ever seen.
And then it got warm again.
More Cold
Temperatures seesawed up and down throughout the Year Without a Summer, bringing hope on warm days that the crops could be harvested after all. Then sharp cold spells brought despair.
On June 22, for example, temperatures reached 101 degrees in Salem, Mass. But July 4 was cool. Chauncey Jerome wrote it was hard to feel patriotic while watching men play quoits in overcoats. Then a northwest wind brought a three-day cold spell, with 30-degree temperatures in northern New England, 40 degrees in Hartford and New Haven.
Gov. William Plumer blamed God for the Year Without a Summer.
The frost destroyed the bean crop in Franconia, N.H., and bean, cucumber and squash crops in Kennebunkport, Maine. Young plants grew so slowly they were vulnerable to frost, and farmers harvested so little hay they had to slaughter their livestock or feed them oats and corn.
As depressing as the second severe cold spell was the drought that enveloped most of the United States, including New England. “I never saw our street so dry,” complained a minister in East Windsor, Conn.
Gov. William Jones of Rhode Island issued a proclamation designating a day of public ‘Prayer, Praise and Thanksgiving,’ noting the ‘coldness and dryness of the seasons’ and the ‘alarming sickness.’ New Hampshire Gov. William Plumer believed the weather was God’s judgment in the earth and urged people to humble themselves for their transgressions.
Fear of famine began to grow during the Year Without a Summer.
Hard Frost in August
Early August was sunny and warm. Farmers planted new crops hoping the growing season might last beyond the first frost in October. On Aug. 13th and 14th, a cold spell froze the corn crop north of Concord, N.H.
On Aug. 20, a short, violent storm struck Amherst, N.H., signaling a steep drop in temperature: 30 degrees within a few hours. It snowed in Vermont. In Maine, farmers wrapped rags around their plants to protect them.
At least the wheat, rye and potatoes were holding up, staving off famine. In Ashland, N.H., Reuben Whitten was able to grow wheat on his south-facing farm. He shared it with his neighbors. After he died in 1847, his neighbors paid for his gravestone and later erected a monument that read:
A pioneer of this town. Cold season of 1816 raised 40 bushils of wheat on this land whitch kept his family and neighbours from starveation.
Hopes of salvaging what remained of the corn crop were dashed by a severe frost on Aug. 28. Maine and New Hampshire farmers cut up whole fields of corn for fodder.
Rev. William Fogg of Kittery, Maine, summed up the Year Without a Summer: ‘Crops cut short and a heavy load of taxes.’
There were reports of people eating raccoons, mackerel and pigeons.
It warmed up again in September, as usual, but then at sunrise on Sept. 26 in Hanover, N.H., it was 26 degrees. Snow fell throughout the region, and a killing frost froze crops in the field and apples on the branch.
Nettles and Hedgehogs
The drought caused wildfires to break out in the woods throughout New England. Fires in western New York produced so much smoke that sailors were blinded on Lake Champlain.
The Year Without a Summer was especially hard on the poor. The New Hampshire Patriot reported on Oct. 22, 1816, that ‘Indian corn, on which a large proportion of the poor depend is cut off. ‘ Vermont farmers lost much of their livestock, and Vermonters foraged for food such as nettles, wild turnips and hedgehogs.
Daniel Webster lost his bid for reelection during the Year Without a Summer.
Three-quarters of the corn crop was lost during the Year Without a Summer. Prices soared for wheat, grains, meat, vegetables, butter, milk and flour. In Maine, the price of oats tripled and potatoes doubled. Hay was 180 a ton in parts of New Hampshire, six times its usual cost.
The Year Without a Summer brought widespread famines in Europe as well. The bad weather forced a group of poets to remain in their rooms in Switzerland. To avoid boredom and entertain the group, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein.
At least the Year Without a Summer had been good for producing maple syrup. Vermonters traded syrup for fish, which is why they called 1816 the Mackerel Year.
Members of Congress seemed insensitive to the suffering of the people and voted to double their own salary. It didn’t go over well. Nearly 70 percent of incumbent U.S. representatives were voted out of office – including Daniel Webster.
After the Year Without a Summer, Josiah Meigs, commissioner general of the Land Offices, in 1817 began a more systematic approach to observing weather phenomenon. He ordered the 20 Land Offices to take thrice-daily recordings of the temperature, winds and precipitation.
The Frigid Zone
Author Samuel Goodrich visited New Hampshire, observing:
Samuel Goodrich described the despair that seized people during the Year Without a Summer.
At last a kind of despair seized upon the people. In the pressure of adversity, many persons lost their judgment, and thousands feared or felt that New England was destined, henceforth, to become part of the frigid zone.
The next year started out cold as well, convincing Northeast farmers to migrate to the Midwest.
Rev. Samuel Robbins in East Windsor, Conn., wrote, ‘We have had a great deal of moving this spring. Our number rather diminished.’
At the time, many reasons were given for the weird phenomena: sunspots, deforestation, great fields of ice floating in the Atlantic, Benjamin Franklin’s lightning rod experiments and, of course, the wrath of God.
Many people believe the Year Without a Summer was caused by a massive volcanic explosion on Mt. Tambora in Indonesia, killing 15,000 instantly. Soon after, another 65,000 perished of disease and starvation. The volcanic ash and debris thrown up into the stratosphere is thought to have blocked the sun and caused a gradual lowering of temperatures.
Lee Foster, NOAA meteorologist, notes that climate data shows 1816 was part of a mini ice age lasting from 1400 to around 1860. The era had unusually harsh winters, short growing seasons and dry weather.
With thanks to The Year Without Summer: 1816 and the Volcano That Darkened the World and Changed History, by William K. Klingaman and Nicholas P. Klingaman. This story was updated in 2020.
Rita Levangie Petrelli
June 6, 2014 at 3:57 pm
Climate change my arse hahaha
C" Perry
April 11, 2018 at 9:59 pm
I’ll believe an educated scientist before I’ll believe a lawyer-politician who knows nothing but cheating the public.
Anna Hoyt Lyon
June 6, 2014 at 4:01 pm
Climate has been changing ever since the world began. Since cars didn’t exist, I suppose this one was caused by excessive equine and bovine flatulence.
Gene Bivins
June 6, 2015 at 7:10 pm
The article states “And to this day, scientists don’t agree on what caused the bizarre weather in The Year Without a Summer,” but this is wrong. Scientists generally agree now that the primary cause was the gigantic eruption in 1815 of Mount Tambora, in Indonesia.
Andrew L
June 30, 2016 at 10:26 am
What is bizarre is some people can look at this event where (natural) climate change caused massive numbers of deaths round the whole globe from starvation and their taking from this is that we can safely ignore possible man made global climate change.
It’s like observing frostbite and therefore concluding that it is impossible that someone might be scalded…
Laura Marie Garrity-Arquitt
June 9, 2017 at 11:17 am
That is exactly what I thought it would have been!
Cheryl Mortensen
April 20, 2018 at 5:46 am
i will give u a 100 dollar bill if u can prove to me cows fart.
Sibella DeCarlo
June 6, 2014 at 4:45 pm
What unbelievable weather to survive –
Sibella DeCarlo
June 6, 2014 at 4:45 pm
What unbelievable weather to survive –
Rob Laughlin
June 6, 2014 at 4:53 pm
We know 1816, as we lost a great many in my family that year at Tolland, Connecticut.
LizBurchan
June 18, 2018 at 4:37 am
It made butler pa known as the buckwheat county which saved many lives due to farmers in the area quick thinking during the time period. Also who is ready for ditto happening anytime with this year 2018 onward with the way volcanos are going off currently >•<
Rob Laughlin
June 6, 2014 at 4:53 pm
We know 1816, as we lost a great many in my family that year at Tolland, Connecticut.
Beth Deitz-Lucio
June 6, 2014 at 5:23 pm
Awesome info !!!
Cathryn Blackwell
June 6, 2014 at 5:36 pm
Actually… The thought it that there was a volcano somewhere and dark summer was caused by the ash cloud floated our way.
Gene Bivins
June 6, 2015 at 7:11 pm
Mount Tambora, in Indonesia, erupted in 1815.
Daniel C. Purdy
June 6, 2014 at 5:51 pm
During the Little Ice Age, the bays here in Maine froze every winter. That year, though, it froze out to Monhegan, 20 miles out. Lou MacAnally, for his Doctoral Dissertation.
Frank Ross
June 6, 2014 at 9:03 pm
Must’ve been all those carbon emissions that humans produce that cause climate change……
Heather Fedrick Pascarelli
June 6, 2014 at 11:26 pm
That’s so crazy. I had no idea that could even happen in summer.
Tarek Raslan
June 7, 2014 at 6:14 am
Great article, thanks for posting!
Jean Gillis Vanasek
June 7, 2014 at 10:09 am
I’ve read about the year without summer. Very interesting, I hope it doesn’t ever happen again.
Debbie Ewing Lyons
June 7, 2014 at 1:06 pm
Great info. We think we have it hard. Wonder how or why people stayed in these places….and here we are today. Still in the same places.
Debbie Ewing Lyons
June 7, 2014 at 1:06 pm
Great info. We think we have it hard. Wonder how or why people stayed in these places….and here we are today. Still in the same places.
Glen Jardine
June 7, 2014 at 4:56 pm
Yes, always read that the eruption of Mt Tambora was a major cause of this.
Glen Jardine
June 7, 2014 at 4:56 pm
Yes, always read that the eruption of Mt Tambora was a major cause of this.
Glen Jardine
June 7, 2014 at 4:56 pm
Yes, always read that the eruption of Mt Tambora was a major cause of this.
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Jill
May 7, 2015 at 10:45 am
I find it interesting that even in these early days of politics that the Congress were already acting like criminals and in the hardships of where so many lost so much they voted to double their salary. They didn’t care about the people then and still don’t care about the people today.
Kid
April 17, 2018 at 3:46 am
Exactly true, Jill. Congress on up, will always get their money just for lying, cheating, and manipulating the people as always. We have to rebuild Congress and get these careless farts out of there! Don’t even need them far as i am concerned. We never should have even had Government i say!!! Rotten criminals and thieves always making sure they have their glass houses in tact!!! Smdh! Get rid of Government!
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Elizabeth Winchcombe
December 22, 2015 at 7:54 pm
Great post. Really interesting stuff. Thanks for taking the time to write it
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Jen
May 7, 2016 at 1:48 pm
There are no hedgehogs in the Americas.
Gary Newman
April 18, 2018 at 5:06 pm
I would suppose they were actually referring to ground hogs or wood chucks.
LizBurchan
June 18, 2018 at 4:40 am
Yeah ,but there are porkcupines , back then it was easliy misconception.
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Tim Mckenna
June 1, 2016 at 1:58 pm
Wait wait wait..my Hedgehogs.. what are they talking about.. they never lived in New England
Marguerite Krupp
April 18, 2018 at 10:53 am
You’re correct about there not being any hedgehogs native to New England (or North America, I think, but haven’t researched that). I suspect they meant groundhogs (woodchucks).
Teresa Wyman
June 9, 2016 at 10:06 am
I remember reading a novel about this when I was about 12 or so. I think it’s time to read it again. Patterns on the Wall (referring to stenciling done by itinerant artists) by Elizabeth Yates. She wrote a number of excellent historical novels about rural New Hampshire and New England life.
Ruth
April 16, 2018 at 8:29 am
She was a great author…and wrote many wonderful books!
Joanne Calhoun
June 23, 2016 at 12:10 pm
Wow! This is fascinating to me. It must have been brutal. Even with modern conveniences it would be difficult, can you imagine these poor people back then? I think with any living entity there is change. Humans, Animals, Plants and the Earth. And Mother Nature does right itself but we always want to fix it. Help it maybe but Mother Nature knows best how to move forward. Of course that is only my opinion.
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Bill Cameron
September 30, 2017 at 6:28 pm
One thin twenty foot mirror placed far enough away sun wards, could cut sunlight enough to lower global warming. Off and on, turned sideways or various angles to allow more sunshine through. Could be done cheap……$40,000,000 or less.
All of history is, slight precession of Earth’s rotational axis, which causes its orientation to the then polar star changes over time. Things as slight as sunspot activity can influence weather. More or less sunlight happens….also our distance to and from the sun varies over the eons. Civilizations have always risen and fallen with the weather. Rome had some 5-600 years of good weather in it’s 800 years. Global Warming started in 1850….exactly. 1848 German Revolution happened because bad weather made half the folk unemployed and starving. We ended up with any that could afford to emigrate after the revolution was put down with bayonet and blood, to our good luck.
We now use 1″ by 3″‘s and air hammer short nails to build houses that blow away, instead 2″ by 4″‘s of 50-70 or more years ago and big long hand hammered nails. 50 and more years ago, I lived through a couple 125 + mph, Miami hurricanes with very little damage in the houses were once built more solidly. That is never talked about….build cheap and they blow away.
There were many heavy hurricanes that are ignored because it’s convenient to forget the 1930’s. Or the 1870’s. There is no money to be made if history if fully taught.
We should worry more about farmers excess nitrogen and pesticides ruining our water….which has been bought up by Nestle. But there is more money to be made in weather than in clean water….right now. Wait 15 years.
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Steve McKinnon
April 23, 2018 at 12:23 pm
Unbelievable ‘
John Mahaffy
April 30, 2018 at 11:00 pm
Widespread famines in Europe as well. Too, the inclement weather forced a group of poets to remain in their rooms in Switzerland, and, to avoid boredome and entertain the group, Mary Shelley wrote. “Frankenstein.”
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