John Evelyn Diary Entries On The Period 1683-85

[Weather-history]

The coldest winter in the CET records with a value of -1.2

Here's some extracts from John Evelyn's diary on this winter and some subsequent months.

2nd January: The thames is frozen

6th January: It being in England this year one of the severest frosts that has happened of many years

11th January: The weather continuing intolerably severe, streets of booths were set upon Thames; the air was so very cold and thick as of many years there had not been the like.

16th January: The river quite frozen.

19th January: I went across the Thames on the ice now become so thick as to bear not only streets of booths in which they roasted meat and had divers shops of wares, quite across as in a town but coaches, carts, horses passed over. So I went from Westminster stairs to Lambeth.....returning I walked over the ice from Lambeth stairs to the Horseferry walked over the ice from Lambeth stairs to the Horseferry.

26th January: The Thames was filled with people and tents, selling all sorts of wares in the City.

3rd February: The frost continuing more and more severe, the Thames before London was still planted with booths in formal streets, all sorts of trades and shops furnished and full of commodities, even to a printing press....Coaches plied from Westminster to the Temple and from several other stairs to and fro, as in the streets , sleds, sliding with skates, a bull baiting, horse and coach races, puppet plays...so that it seemed to be a bacchanalian triumph or carnival on the water, whilst it was a severe judgement on the land, the trees not only splitting as if lightning-struck, but men and cattle perishing in divers places and the very seas so locked up with ice that no vessels could stir out or come in. The fowls, fish and birds and all our exotic plants and greens, universally perishing.....Nor was this severe weather much less intense in most parts of Europe even as far Spain and the most southern tracts. London by reason of the excessive coldness of the air hindering the ascent of the smoke, was so filled with the fuliginous steam of sea coal, that hardly could one see across the streets and this filling the lungs with its gross particles exceedingly obstructed the breast so as one could scarcely breathe. Here was no water to be had from the pipes and engines, nor could the brewers and divers other tradesmen work, and every moment was full of disastrous accidents.

15th February: It began to thaw but froze again. My coach crossed from Lambeth to the Horseferry at Millbank. The booths were almost taken down.

18th February: The weather was set in to an absolute thaw and rain, but the Thames is still frozen.

12th July 1684 (OS): There had been an excessive hot and dry spring and such a drought still continued as never was in my memory.

23rd July 1684: Some small sprinkling of rain, the leaves dropping from the tree as in autumn.

20th August 1684: We had now rain after such a drought as no man in England had known.

The hot and dry spring was referring to the May which had a CET of 13.0C

3rd September 1684: Excessive hot. We had not had one or two considerable showers, and those torms, these eight or nine months. Many trees died for the want of refreshment.

12th November 1684: A sudden change from temperate warm weather to an excessive cold rain, frost snow and storm, such as had seldom been known. This winter began as early and fierce as the past did late.; till about Christmas there then had been hardly any winter.

11th January 1685: It proved so sharp weather and so long and cruel a frost, that the Thames was frozen across, but the frost often dissolved and then froze again.

3rd June 1685: We had hitherto not any rain for many months, so as the caterpillars had already devoured all the winter fruit through the whole land and even killed several greater old trees. Such two winters and summers I have never known.

24th June 1685: Such a dearth for want of rain as never was in my memory

27th June 1685: The exceeding drought continues.

8th July 1685: We had now plentiful rain after two years' excessive drought and severe winters.

It seems there was some strong blocking which resulted in prolonged periods of cold in winter and drought conditions which looked as though they lasted for about 18 months.

Edited June 17, 2011 by Mr_Data

[Polar Maritime]

Thanks for posting Mr Data, As i was reading through this, I was imagining what it must have been like to experience such cold/dry conditions. There must of been so many lives lost, No double glazeing or central heating back then! It must of been terrible to live through. Talking about mini ice age's, lets hope we dont start getting winters like this one !

Edited June 17, 2011 by snowrob

[Weather-history]

Some diary entries from Sir John Witterwronge of Rothamsted

A very dry season and excessive hot. most part of June (1684)

A very hot season all month only the 27th and 28th fell great thunder showers (July 1684)

This summer in generall from the beginning of May till the latter end of August, was the hottest and dryest that I ever remember or (I thinck) any man els, being more like Spayn for hot dry settled weather than Engeland.

Great snows and hardy frosty weather the last week in October; most of the snow that fell the 30th lying on the ground the 31th (although it thawed off the howsen) so that it looked like the end of Decemb: or January and was as cold weather as is usually in those months.

It was 23th of the monthin the morneing when I saw the pond in the Straw yard first clear of Ice which had bin there since the 26th of Octob:

A very dry February, very cold and calm till the last 3 dayes (1685)

An extraordinary dry March: wayes very dusty as the can bee in Summer; no rain worth mentioning the whole month. (1685)

A very dry Aprill as March and Feb: had bin before and indeed the whole winter, there fell several snowes but hardly any rain to speak of from Michalmas to Lady Day.

The weather has bin so long dry, that by the 10th of May all the smal ponds about Harding were quite dry and Wize pon had no more water than just in the middle within the railes and by the beginning of June it was quite dry.

Number of rain days and estimated totals reported by Sir John

1684

May: 3 (10mm)

June: 4 (20mm)

July: 9 (25mm)

August: 5 (45mm)

September: 14 (105mm)

October: 12 (90mm)

November: 14 (125mm)

December: 7 (40mm)

1685

January: 5 (30mm)

February: 3 (15mm)

March: 4 (20mm)

April: 8 (30mm)

May: 5 (15mm)

June: 1 (<5mm)

[Optimus Prime]

Got to love the old English, if a little confusing but it really helps provide a good mental image of the time. Better than some of that internet slang that is used, even in everyday life these days.