Window to the Past

By Robert Holdgreve, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Monday, March 5, 2007 (1 year, 5 months ago)
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Jan. 12, 1918

Statewide Blizzard

This storm was compared to the New Years Blizzard of 1864 and was not matched until the Blizzard of 1978. The Blizzard of 1918 came during a winter of bitter cold and deep snow in the Heartland. It was referred to as an “old-fashioned winter” for the way it resembled the winters of the nineteenth century. The Texas low strengthened rapidly as it crossed Ohio and gale-force winds pulled the Arctic air across the region.

As the blizzard arrived, temperatures fell from 30 degrees to -15 in eight hours. Winds averaged 30 to 50 mph all day. This was the coldest day in memory for Ohioans.

Drifts of 10 to 15 feet covered houses, vehicles and trains. Churches opened their doors to the poor and others who did not have coal for home heat. Trains were halted across the state as were most streetcars. Passengers on a train stalled near Washington Court House were brought into town on sleds to prevent their freezing to death. The stoppages of rail traffic halted coal deliveries while the extreme cold created record demands for coal.

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Twister In 1919,

Amanda Township

The year 1919 was prolific of windstorms in Allen and adjoining counties; in the afternoon of November 29, 1919, a “twister visited Amanda Township, unroofing buildings and doing much damage; at the farm of Ira E. Coon it brought disaster. At about 4:00 o’clock, Mr. Coon with his wife and two sons went to the barn to do the milking; a few minutes later a huge black wall of clouds, accompanied by a terrific wind, was headed in their direction. They immediately recognized their danger.

Mr. Coon and the 12-year-old boy rushed to the north side of the barn to secure the doors; they had not reached them when a titanic force of wind blew down the walls of the building. The dismayed father called to the son to run east to the gate opening into the road. Just at this time the entire building collapsed and Mr. Coon was frantic from fear for the safety of his wife and ten-year-old son. As the debris of the wreck had been flung toward the north he hurried to the southside in search of his wife and son. Realizing that she could not escape, threw her so and herself into the concrete trench at the back of the stalls. This trench was wide and deep and saved her and the boy’s life. The mows above them filled with hay and cornfodder, came crashing down and they were covered in the trench.

Hoping against hope, Mr. Coon called his wife and from her place of refuge, she answered him. She and the boy were uninjured, although pinioned into the trench by the heavy joists that prevented the hay from pressing down on them. With his help they crawled out, and with the wind blowing with tremendous force, they reached the house in safety. Miss Hazel Sunderland, who lived with the family, had hurried to the cellar, with the five year old daughter and the baby and they soon joined them. The oldest boy who left the barn at the height of the storm was caught up into a large ditch with no water in it. He had presence of mind to lie in the bottom until the wind lulled, when he joined the frightened family and there was much rejoicing in the household.

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March 28, 1920:

Tornadoes

The Palm Sunday 1920 tornado outbreak of 30 tornadoes across eight states killed 153 persons, ranking it among the deadliest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history. Four killer tornadoes moved into western Ohio and another moved across Wood and Ottawa counties. The first tornado crossed into Paulding County and swept into Lucas County. Another tornado touched down near Bowling Green and moved into Ottawa County. A tornado entered Mercer County from Indiana and then destroyed a Van Wert County farm house, killing two occupants. A different tornado entered Darke County and destroyed numerous farm houses, a school, and church. A few minutes later a stronger tornado followed a parallel path, about 8 miles south of the first tornado. It was a violent storm, 1200 feet wide and destroying homes and farms near Nashville, Palestine and Greenville. The landmark Linamude School was “torn brick from brick.” The community of Moulton was leveled and 3 people killed.

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June 28, 1924:

Lorain Tornado

The deadliest tornado in Ohio’s history struck Lorain and Sandusky on June 28, 1924. This was not the largest or strongest tornado to occur in Ohio, but the violent storm struck an urban center where thousands of people were put at risk. There were 85 fatalities, 72 of which occurred in Lorain.

A nine city block area was damaged. One hundred homes and 25 businesses were destroyed in Sandusky. The tornado continued over Lake Erie before coming ashore. Buildings were damaged for 35 blocks along Broadway and at least 200 automobiles were buried in bricks and other debris. More than 1,000 homes were damaged and 500 destroyed in Lorain All downtown businesses sustained some damage. The death toll of 5 in the State Theater is the most ever killed by a tornado in one building in Ohio. A second tornado touched down in Sandusky County. Another formed in Erie County. A fourth touched down near Geauga Lake and traveled across northern Portage County. Three farmers were killed in their milking barns.

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Putnam County

Record Low

May 10, 1966, nearly 1,000 acres of tomato plants were killed by cold weather; plus sugar beets, clover, alfalfa and wheat showed results of a deep freeze when temperatures dropped to 26 degrees. Ray Burkholder said this set a new record low for May.

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Summer 1934

Statewide Heat Wave

The summer of 1934 ranks as the hottest in Ohio since temperature records began in 1883. The average summer temperature of 75.7 degrees for June, July and August broke the old record set in 1901 and was 5 degrees above normal. The hottest recent summer was 2003 with an average temperature of 73.8 degrees. Warm and dry weather was a trademark of the early 1930s in Ohio and much of the U.S.

July 1934 was the hottest month ever recorded in Ohio. It was on July 21, 1934, that Ohio’s hottest temperature occurred. A weather station four miles northwest of Gallipolis recorded 113 degrees. Heat waves later in July sent temperatures to 111 degrees at Defiance.

Estimates of the death toll in Ohio were about 160 dead just during the week of July 20-26. This was prior to air conditioning in homes. The oppressively warm nights during July 1934 led many residents to sleep on porches, roofs, and even on their lawns.

(How does our global warming climate in 2006 compare to this?) R.H.

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Nov. 23-27, 1950:

Great Thanksgiving

Snow Storm

(Deepest in Ohio History)

In some places, drifts were 25 feet deep.

The classic Ohio State-Michigan football game was scheduled for Saturday afternoon in Columbus, the Big Ten championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line. So with a Saturday morning temperature of 5 degrees and winds of 40 mph, the “Blizzard Bowl” was played in Columbus. Michigan won 9-3 on 27 total yards gained and without achieving even one first down.

The snow continued through Sunday and by Monday morning, snow depths reached 33 inches at Steubenville. Bulldozers were used to clear roads so that ambulances could reach those in need, and the Ohio National Guard used Jeeps to transport people to hospitals.

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Coldest Month

In Ohio

January 1977 was the coldest month known in Ohio, with a statewide average temperature of 11.9 degrees, 17 degrees below normal. Temperatures remained below freezing through the entire month in northern Ohio. The impact of the cold were intensified by snowfall twice the average and a blizzard. The cold peaked on Jan. 17th with lows of 25 below zero at Cincinnati when a new cold record was set. Cars would not start, pipes were frozen and furnaces malfunctioned. Shortages of natural gas led some businesses and factories to close. Extreme cold continued into the first half of February with temperatures falling to 20 below at some locations.

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Jan. 26, 1978:

Blizzard of 78

What occurred on January 26th, 1978 in Ohio was not a blizzard. What did occur was even rarer and more dangerous: a severe blizzard.

The National Weather Service defines a “severe blizzard” as a storm with winds of 45 miles per hour or greater; a great density of falling or blowing snow; and temperatures of 10 degrees or less.

In fact, winds gusted to more than 100 mph over much of the state, with sustained winds in the 45-60 mph range. All-time low barometric pressure records were shattered as the intense storm whipped the state.

The Blizzard of 1978 was the worst storm to ever occur in Ohio. From Jan. 25 to 27, between one and three feet of snow fell in Ohio and nearby states. Winds created snowdrifts as deep as twenty-five feet. The deadly wind chill reached 60 degrees below zero. For the first time in its history, the entire Ohio Turnpike closed down. One semi driver was buried inside his truck for almost a week.

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Powerful Lightning

Delphos Herald — April 5, 1984

Electrical and telephone service have been temporarily restored to the Kenneth Hellman residence on Brickner Rd., northwest of Delphos.

The house, garage, barn and a chicken coop, now used for storage, were damaged Wednesday morning by a huge bolt of lightning and earth-shaking thunder. The most severe damage was to the house which will have to be rewired.

An estimate of the damage has not been completed by the insurance adjuster.

Fortunately no one was home when the lightning hit.

Delphos firefighters who inspected the buildings found the lightning had caused no fire.

Ken was contacted at work by the fire department and returned home. When Sandy returned home and saw the two large holes in the chicken coop where the siding was splintered and scattered in the yard, she thought someone hit the building with a car.

It is believed that the lightning struck near the coop tearing holes of about 12 and 3 feet wide in the ground. Roots of a nearby Maple tree were shredded but the top of the tree was not touched. A clump of mud and grass hangs from one of the branches about 40 feet above the ground.

The lightning then traveled along electric wires and a waterline to the garage, house, a transformer and the barn. A hole was knocked in the siding of the garage, a window sash broken, and damage to the foundation.

Wiring was snapped into short, twisted segments and insulation was blown off the wires. One piece of wire driven into a door casing. A transformer, about 75 feet from the house was melted and a meter box on the pole was blown near the house. The lightning then moved to the barn when a door was blown off, siding damaged and windows broken.

Visible damage to the house is a hole ripped in the siding above the kitchen, a broken spouting that the lightning followed to the ground where it blew a large hole.

Basement windows were broken and several chunks were knocked from the basement wall. Waterline was broken and the fuse box melted.

Two kitchen windows were apparently broken by the thunder as the inside panes were shattered but the storm windows were not damaged. Plaster around an outlet was ripped from the wall.

Six other houses in the area had power outages but no serious damage.

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Lightning, July 1, 2003

The Rev. Don Hardman, a traveling evangelist from Virginia, was preaching to the congregation at First Baptist Church at Forest, Ohio during a storm. According to the Bible, Rev. Hardman told the crowd “God’s voice often sounds like thunder. That’s right, God! We hear you!” he said, looking upward, and just then - KAPOW - a bolt of lightning struck the little church.

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