|
|
|
|
Dark Day
Fri Oct 07, 2005
Listen in RealAudio 
During July 2002, dozens of forest fires raged across northern Quebec sending a thick smoky haze southward as far as Washington, DC and prompting health advisories in Quebec, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. This smoke pall brought reminders of a May 1780 event: New England's infamous "Dark Day." Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook.
For days, the New England sun had taken on an unusual reddish hue within a dirty yellow sky. At mid-morning May 19th, a blanket of darkness descended across New England. Birds sang their evening songs, then went silent. As darkness intensified, cows were said to have walked back to their barns, thinking it was evening.
Noon was nearly as dark as night, making outdoor travel difficult. New Haven's Connecticut Journal reported the darkness was as deep as when candles were lit in the evening.
Samuel Williams of Bradford, Connecticut, commented, "In some places, the darkness was so great, that persons could not see to read common print in the open air.... The extent of this darkness was very remarkable."
Many feared divine wrath. Yale president Timothy Dwight wrote, "It was the general opinion that the day of judgment was at hand." Church attendance immediately picked up.
The cause of the darkness was not divine, but natural. Today, we can attribute the darkness to smoke and ash concentrated into a dense blanket which blocked the sunlight. Forest fires burning to the west in Canada or northern New England most likely spawned the dense smoke cloud which was drawn across New England by passing low pressure. This is supported by reports from Boston that the air smelled like a "malt-house or coal-kiln," and a something resembling ashes settled on pools of rain water.
Our program is sponsored by Subaru, and the National Science Foundation.
|
|
