Remember, it's still only March!

As our winter drags on, and on and on, we like to boast that we’ve seen the worst winter can throw at us, and we laugh. But if any of us had been in the Northern Plains in January of 1888, we would not have been mocking Mother Nature. A fierce, catastrophic storm barreled through the region on January 12, 1888. No real weather forecasting was being done at the time, just rudimentary forecasts from the Army Signal Corps. The 6 year period before and including the 1888 storm was called the “Little Ice Age” because weather had been so extreme. A volcano erupting half way around the world in 1883 led to climate disruption for the next 6 years. This storm effected both the East and West coasts, and no doubt Chicago felt it wrath. Imagine if this had happened in 2019. First of all, we would have plenty of warning. Schools and businesses would be closed in anticipation of transportation being difficult of impossible. Our modern home would keep us warm, and our freezers would hold enough food to feed us. A few hardy souls might venture out during the hurricane-force winds, and our police, fire and ambulance crews would be there if we needed them.  Now, try to imaging weathering this storm without our modern conveniences. How terrified would you be to see the wind drive the snow into huge drifts and know help will not come for days? Would your heat stay on? Probably the electricity would go out, so you might have to fire up the fireplace. WE should appreciate how (relatively) easy we have it in 2019.