Posted on 12/26/2025 10:32:30 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
In the years preceding the advent of central heating and high-precision weather forecasting, winter brought with it a definite sense of unease and danger. Whereas today a tough winter might just mean spending a bit more time inside, for years, a brutal winter could bring with it death, disease, and total isolation.
Whether it be through cataclysmic volcanic winters or historically unprecedented blizzards, these devastating winters had far greater consequences than mere travel delays and hours spent shoveling snow.
The Great Frost of 1709
Known as Le Grand Hiver (the Great Winter) in France, the Great Frost was a winter of unprecedented bitter cold across the European continent between 1708 and 1709. Lasting about three months, the Great Frost decimated the agricultural industries in countries like France and England.
Some historians have estimated that the grueling winter led to a dramatic drop of 13% in England’s GDP and left more than half a million French dead from exposure, illness, or starvation. Coinciding with the Little Ice Age, a widespread regional cooling across the North Atlantic between the 16th and 19th centuries, the Great Frost came during a period of widespread social upheaval across Europe, compounding the losses incurred during the cold spell.
Though the circumstances of the Great Frost and the global COVID-19 pandemic vary greatly in nature, their seismic economic ramifications have often found the two compared to one another.
The Volcanic Winter of 536 CE
Frequently described as the worst year in human history, 536 CE was a year plagued with misfortune—its winter being no exception.
Following a massive volcanic eruption somewhere in Earth’s northern hemisphere (purportedly Iceland or Alaska), much of the Earth’s atmosphere became saturated with volcanic ash, dimming the sun for more than a year and leading to massive, widespread crop failures that plunged much of the world into famine. Plummeting global temperatures as much as 3.6℉, the widespread crop and vegetation failure brought on by the volcanic eruption decimated human and wildlife populations across Eurasia.
Still reeling from widespread famine, Eastern Europe was quickly overcome by plague and disease, with the comorbid arrival of the Plague of Justinian that claimed the lives of an estimated 50 million people. Weakened by the grueling winter and raging plague, the cataclysmic events of 536 CE brought an end to both the Sananian and Gupta empires, permanently altering the Eurasian geopolitical landscape.
The Year Without a Summer (1816)
Following the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, millions of tons of ash and debris were shot into Earth’s atmosphere. Largely considered to be the single most powerful volcanic eruption in man’s history, the eruption itself claimed the lives of an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 people immediately, but its true impact wouldn’t be felt until the following year.
Exacerbated by another eruption in the Philippines a year prior, the high concentration of ash in Earth’s atmosphere resulted in Europe’s coldest winter ever, leading to widespread crop failures and the year to be fittingly dubbed the Year Without a Summer. Destroying crop yields across Europe and Asia, the ensuing global famine led to an increase in deaths from disease and exacerbated political tensions between countries like the United Kingdom and Ireland.
While much of the Year Without a Summer can be described as one of general misery, the volcanic winter and its corresponding chilly conditions indirectly gave rise to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, when the literary classic was penned during a particularly dreary getaway during the Year Without a Summer.
The Great Blizzard of 1888
One of the most severe blizzards in American history, the Great Blizzard of 1888 effectively crippled the northern half of the East Coast when heavy rainfall turned to snow in the early hours of March 12, 1888. Trapping families across New England inside their homes for up to a week, the Great White Hurricane, as it came to be called, dropped 50 inches of snow across the Northeast, disabling telegraph lines and bringing rail travel to a screeching halt.
Leading to the deaths of an estimated 400 people (half of which were in New York City alone), the unprecedented storm incentivized New York City to begin taking much of its infrastructure, like telegraph, power, and rail lines underground, catalyzing the creation of the city’s now ubiquitous underground subway transit.
The 1993 Storm of the Century
Sometimes also referred to as the Great Blizzard of 1993, the Storm of the Century was a behemoth nor’easter that hit half of the United States and much of eastern Canada in March 1993. Dropping several feet of snow all along the Atlantic seaboard, the Storm of the Century claimed the lives of at least 300 and caused property damage in excess of $6 billion.
Hitting the U.S. with hurricane-force winds, the storm’s icy conditions and strong winds left an estimated 10 million homes without power and brought commercial travel to a standstill overnight. Raging from March 10 to March 14, 1993, the blizzard hit Tennessee the hardest, dropping about five feet of snow onto the landlocked Southern state.
Though the damage from the storm was still considerable, advancements in weather reporting accurately forecasted the storm days in advance, giving local and federal governments critical time to prepare for the brutal conditions and mitigate any losses.
What about the winter of 77-78 on the East Coast? Holy cow, it never stopped snowing. January was awful and February was worse....
93 was back to back (Friday and Sunday) storms. It may have been Superbowl Weekend. Hardly dug out from Friday before getting blasted again. Then the March extravaganza . It was quite the winter. Worked at USAA and we were expected to be at work on time.
El Reno Oklahoma 1992 always comes to mind
No hear
One wool blanket
It was like a hurricane in central FL, storm surge in the Big Bend area that drowned people, huge rainfall, strong winds, and tornadoes in sundry places. It also was the beginning of the end for many citrus trees, including those in backyards on my block.
When I was a kid I’d go out and ride my horse in snow storms and subzero weather.
Had a hoof pick in my pocket for any snow getting stuck inside his horse shoes.
One time my mare slipped and tossed me off through the ice of a shallow pond.
I thought these things were fun.
I must have been out of my mind.
The great 1913 freeze of southern California caused a great deal of damage. Richard Nixon was born during this freeze and was the only child born at home, because the freeze prevented them from getting to a hospital. The old Watkin’s Drug Store had a photo of the fountain in the Orange city circle frozen solid.
https://www.dailybreeze.com/2010/01/25/great-freeze-of-13-had-ruinous-effects/
I do not recall the storm of 1993. I should. Maybe it wasn’t in Michigan. The Blizzard of 1978, on the other hand...
One of just several White Christmas's I've had.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Blizzard_of_1899
Early February 1899 saw freezing temps as far south as PANAMA.
CE? WTF..
Anyway, Merry Christmas!!
Those are basaltic volcanoes. Kinder and gentler. Violent ones would be anything from Shasta through Oregon to Mt. Baker in Washington.
There might have been 5 feet of snow in the mountains of east Tennessee in 1993, but it was an ice storm for most of the state that immobilized much of the state. Hundreds of thousands were without power for up to two weeks and when the temperature warmed, pipes that had frozen due to no heat burst and caused even more problems.
Frequently described as the worst year in human history, 536 CE AD 536 was a year plagued with misfortune...the cataclysmic events of 536 CE AD 536 brought an end to both the Sananian and Gupta empires
FIFY
I was in Greensboro NC and my daughter was born 9 months after that storm.
Don’t worry. Scientists have calculated that Earth core of radioactive material will provide enough energy to keep the surface a balmy minus 40 , I forget if that is C or F.
Snow storm in 1967 in Chicago paralyzed the city for a week with snow drifts roof high. My car on street in front of house was buried in snow for a week, when the city crew finally got to plough our street.
We had a huge Mississippi flood around the July 4th holiday in 1993. Lots of damage up and down the river valley.
Frequently described as the worst year in human history, 536 CE AD 536 was a year plagued with misfortune...the cataclysmic events of 536 CE AD 536 brought an end to both the Sananian and Gupta empires
It's always fun to ask them what's the significance of the starting date of C.E.
Because as a kid, you didn’t worry about breaking a hip if you fell. Snow was something to play in. Sledding on anything near flat that you could find, stomping around in it, and for us southern kids, NO SCHOOL!
“””””The great 1913 freeze of southern California””””””
That may have been the event that had San Diego police stationed at the downtown water fountain to prevent photographs being taken of the ice.
Storm didn’t stop the milkman from delivering?
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