The Nineteenth Century...Weather Extremes Worcestershire. ...Part 1.

[ANYWEATHER]

January 20th 1802:- Winds reached hurricane strength over a wide area .Trees were brought down and houses were damaged. Six barns were destroyed as the winds grew in strength.  A large windmill was set alight as the winds whired the blades round too fast..

January 25th 1805 :- Early in the morning the east wind blew so strong and cold that it froze the wheels of wagons. Icicles 15 ft long and 9 inches in diameter formed within hours. By midday the skies had turned a yellowy grey ,becoming almost as black as night. Blizzards set in over many neighboring counties whipping the snow into 20 feet deep or more in rural places...

July 15th 1808:- After a prolonged heatwave the weather broke on the 15th .For about an hour and a half ,a deluge of rain fell ,flooding hundreds of houses to a great depth. Thunder continued in what seemed an unbroken roar throughout the storm and the hailstones that fell were like fragments of a vast plate of ice broken into pieces, they were broad flat and ragged.

June 18th 1809 :- After a sunny very warm morning ,there was a storm of rain ,what appeared to be rain from a clear blue sky. The incident was reported to be from a massive dust devil picking up debris and water from a nearby lake ,and as the dust devil dissapated it appeared to rain from a clear blue sky..!

November 12th 1810 :- A huge thunderstorm with distructive winds tore up trees by the roots . Lightning struck a house  and came down the chimney of a room where a gentleman was sitting ,burning his hand and eyebrows,  his stocking and his papers ,and tearing down a mirror and a clock from the opposite side of the room.

March 4th 1818:- A serious storm swept in from Herefordshire  and moved over to Worcestershire. The ferocity of the storm was so notable ,and it rained for 11 hours non stop causing extreme flooding.

May 20th 1822:- After a fine sunny spell, May 20th, began very calm and peaceful, but by afternoon the air was said to hang with heavy moisture. A tall dark cloud was reported on the southern horizon for much of the afternoon,and shortly before teatime a great storm struck, of an electrical power not seen before. Darkness fell with continuous lightning flashes and a frightening roar of thunder which lasted until the morning. Hailstones lashed the land ,piling up to a foot in places. A violent Tornado twisted trees out of the ground ,and said to resemble an earth tremor as it moved by.