View source for Extreme Weather



The northern Adirondacks are subject to weather extremes, mostly from cold, snow and wind.
* [[The%20Great%20Windfall%20of%201845|The Great Windfall of 1845]]
* [[https://localwiki.org/hsl/The_Big_Blow-Down_of_1950|The Big Blow-Down of 1950]]
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''Malone Palladium,'' January 11, 1866

'''THE FROZEN TIME.'''

—We have had our “cold term” for 1866. Commencing on Thursday evening last, the thermometer has been trying to see how deep it could dive and how long it could stay under. From that time till Tuesday last it hardly raised above 20 degrees below zero, and some of the time it went down, to 33 degrees below. We seldom see so long a term of steady cold weather. On Tuesday it began to let up a little, and we should now have very passable winter weather if we had snow enough for sleighing. As yet we have not had snow enough to bring out the sleighs, and all our wood has to be hauled on wheels.


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''Plattsburgh Republican'', January 8, 1910

'''LOST IN BLINDING BLIZZARD.'''

Saranac Lake, Jan. 6.—Strayed from their trail and lost in a blinding blizzard on the aide of White Face mountain, a party of four Saranac Lake men spent New Year's night camped in the open. They started for the summit expecting to scale the craggy side with snow shoes, but the slippery rocks and deep snow made the feat impossible. They planned to reach the summer cabin, a mile from the top, to spend the night.

In the party were [[William%20G.%20Distin|William Distin]], a student at Columbia University, his father, [[William%20L.%20Distin|W. L. Distin]], a Saranac Lake artist; Herman James and Arthur Cook. They left on Saturday morning, going to Wilmington, where a trail eight miles long leads to the White Face summit 4,800 feet above the sea level. The party was overtaken on the route by a blizzard and forced to camp for fear of accident. Sunday morning they started to return, but traveling was so bad that they did not reach the foot until night. They reached here Monday.