http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/02/12/five-coldest-days-rochester-history/23314901/It'll be no weather for a picnic this weekend, but take heart: Things could be worse. Much worse.
Here are five days that Rochesterians should be glad to have behind them.
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Feb. 7, 1856: On Feb. 5, the Rochester Daily Democrat, thinking the worst of the cold weather was behind it, published an ode to spring:
"We have reached the point where we may see, beyond the billowy sea of snow, the opening vista of spring. … To many people, the approach of the genial season is like the pleasant sound of Hope's voice to the imprisoned, when it tells of the speedily coming hour of release."
The lyricism proved premature. Two days later, the temperature dropped to 26 degrees below zero, among the coldest days in Rochester history.
"We think that never before, since civilization has existed in this region, has been such barbarous weather," the newspaper's editors wrote with a shiver.
Jan. 5, 1904: The temperature dropped to 14 below zero in Rochester and much colder elsewhere in the region, hitting 40 below zero in Bath, Steuben County.
"Five deaths from the extreme cold are reported, while it is impossible to estimate the number of those suffering from colds, bronchitis and pneumonia," according to the Union-Advertiser. "Frostbites are common."
The arctic weather did not inspire sympathy for John Jackson, a 40-year-old man discovered that day living in the woods in Chili in a shanty made of stolen fence posts, "his hands and other portions of his body badly frostbitten."
Jackson admitted to having gone house-to-house begging for food. For that, he was convicted the same day of "being a tramp" and sentenced to 90 days in prison.
"Now that he has been captured and sentenced, the residents of the southern part of the town can rest in peace," the Democrat and Chronicle assured its readers.
• Jan. 19, 1994: This was the last time Rochester passed 24 hours with the temperature below zero. It was 11 degrees below zero at the airport, with the wind chill registering as low as 48 degrees below zero.
Aug. 9, 1816: An August day before Rochester got its charter is an unusual inclusion on a list of the city's coldest days, but the summer of 1816 deserves special mention as the strangest in American weather history.
A massive volcanic explosion in Indonesia the previous year threw so much dust into the atmosphere, it blocked the sun's worth around the globe, leading to what is called the Year Without Summer, or the Poverty Year.
About a foot of snow fell in much of the northeast United States in June, and July and August both featured ice storms and severe frost that killed off almost the entire corn harvest and sent other food prices careening. The coup de grace in Rochester came Aug. 9, according to former city historian Blake McKelvey, when one final frost sealed farmers' fate.
• Feb. 7, 1934: The Democrat and Chronicle proclaimed this the coldest weather in Rochester history, although it probably wasn't worse than the 1856 chill exactly 78 years earlier. It was notable, however, as the last time Lake Ontario froze over completely from shore to shore.
"Downtown streets were practically deserted," according to the newspaper. "Rochester Gas and Electric reported a jump in gas consumption as housewives sought to equalize house temperatures by lighting ovens and gas fireplaces." The Rochester Auto Club reported 642 calls for help from benumbed motorists.
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