Seasons

Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 – Wikipedia

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Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 – Wikipedia

The Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 was a large extratropical cyclone which moved through the Eastern United States, causing significant winds, heavy rains east of the Appalachians, and blizzard conditions along the western slopes of the mountain chain. Hurricane-force winds, peaking at 110 miles per hour in Concord, New Hampshire and 160 miles per hour in the New England highlands, disrupted power to 1,000,000 customers during the event. In all, the storm impacted 22 states, killing 353, injuring over 160, and creating US$66.7 million in damage (1950 dollars). At the time, U.S. insurance companies paid more money out to their policy holders for damage resulting from this cyclone than for any other previous storm or hurricane. The cyclone is also one of only twenty-six storms to rank as a Category 5 on the Regional Snowfall Index.

NPR

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Hurricane Delta Becomes A Category 4 Storm As Winds Reach 130 MPH : NPR

Hurricane Delta has become a major storm, after rapidly intensifying in the Caribbean. The hurricane has sustained winds up to 130 mph and is heading toward the northern Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center says. Over the next 12 hours, its winds could rise to 140 mph.

Something to watch out for next week.

NPR

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Hurricane Delta Becomes A Category 4 Storm As Winds Reach 130 MPH : NPR

Hurricane Delta has become a major storm, after rapidly intensifying in the Caribbean. The hurricane has sustained winds up to 130 mph and is heading toward the northern Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center says. Over the next 12 hours, its winds could rise to 140 mph.

Something to watch out for next week.

Carving a Pumpkin

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This year for my November camping trip, I am thinking of buying a pumpkin I can carve with a knife 🔪for a jack-o-lantern. 🎃 I can carve out the guts of the pumpkin in the woods one day, bake the pumpkin seeds for a snack, and have the jack-o-lantern with a candle to light up the long nights.

I think having a pumpkin will be a lot of fun. At the end of the trip, I can blast it with the shotgun or the twenty-two 🔫 and leave it back in the woods to rot. It’s zero-waste, wildlife like deer will eat it up, and it’s supporting local agriculture too.🚜 Plus I like baked pumpkin seeds, 🍰 they’re pretty yummy to boot.

Pumpkin Left By Columbus Day Campers

The Big Blowdown of 1950 – – The Adirondack Almanack

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The Big Blowdown of 1950 – – The Adirondack Almanack

The Big Blowdown brought heavy rains and winds in excess of 100 mph. In a single day – November 25th – more than 800,000 acres of timber was heavily damaged. The storm caused a complete shutdown of the roads and trails across large swaths of the park, a historic suspension of the State Constitution, a temporary glut in the spruce market, and a political impact that continues to this day.

Despite several days of rain that preceded the storm, hundreds of hunters were out for the last weekend of the season, including Adirondack conservationist Paul Schaefer, hunting in heavy rain near Eleventh Mountain in western Warren County. “When the top 40 feet of a great spruce suddenly cracked and blew almost over our heads,” he remembered, “we knew it was high time to get home.”

Hikers huddled at Johns Brook Lodge thought it safer to leave the area altogether, but a number of hunters rode the storm out alone, already separated from their parties for the day’s hunt. Ronald “Bud” Brownell was sixteen at the time and hunting with his father at Russian Lake near Big Moose Lake. He cowered alone under a large tree for what seemed like forever and considered it a miracle when he was finally reunited with this father and uncle.

The Big Blowdown of 1950 – – The Adirondack Almanack

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The Big Blowdown of 1950 – – The Adirondack Almanack

The Adirondacks is prone to powerful windstorms, isolated tornadoes, and occasional hurricanes, derechos, and microbursts. Perhaps the second most destructive of these in modern Adirondack history (next to the 1998 Ice Storm) occurred in November, 1950.

The Big Blowdown brought heavy rains and winds in excess of 100 mph. In a single day – November 25th – more than 800,000 acres of timber was heavily damaged. The storm caused a complete shutdown of the roads and trails across large swaths of the park, a historic suspension of the State Constitution, a temporary glut in the spruce market, and a political impact that continues to this day.

Despite several days of rain that preceded the storm, hundreds of hunters were out for the last weekend of the season, including Adirondack conservationist Paul Schaefer, hunting in heavy rain near Eleventh Mountain in western Warren County. “When the top 40 feet of a great spruce suddenly cracked and blew almost over our heads,” he remembered, “we knew it was high time to get home.”

The Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 in the Adirondacks.