Lizzie Borden Society Forum

I have a funny feeling that I won't be mowing the lawn today!

We've got about an inch of slushy snow over here. My daughter Emily was thrilled this morning and wanted to know if we were going to set up the Christmas tree. (She's four.)

As I type this the sun is coming out.

We had a bit of snow here in Utah couple of weeks ago. It was barely anything, but it had me worried that last winter was starting already. We had a MAJOR snowstorm which started Christmas Eve and lasted for a couple of days. The snow was about 3 ft deep in my yard and I was without power for 5 days. This year I am 'pre' prepared. I had my snowblower tuned up during the summer, I have a ba of sno-melt, and my snow shovel is primed and ready to go !...LOL. Yes Mark, it looks as if you can put the mower away until next year. How much snow does Fall River get ? Does it stay most of the winter ?


Tracy...

I have a snow removal plan.. He is called Thayne.

Because Fall River and Fairhaven are right on the coast, the warm ocean water keeps us rather warmer here than even a few miles inland. For those of you who know gardening planting zones, we're Zone 6.

We usually get a few snows of a few inches that last a few days before melting. It's rather rare to have snow this early. It's usually December before we see any. White Christmases aren't really as common as we'd like them. January, February and early March are when we're more used to getting snow. Sometimes if we get six or eight inches in February and the air stays cold, the ground could remain snowy or icy for a week or more.

Mark A., do you agree with this rather general description of our winter weather in Southeastern, MA?

So did Lizzie see a lot of snow as a child-- or later at Maplecroft?

We always had snow when I lived in Boston.

Paris sees little snow-- if it does snow it seldom lingers.

Thanks for the great description Chris !


Tracy...

Fall River, South Main Street. Winter 1896 - Brrrrr.

Brrrrrrr.......indeed !


Tracy...

I love that picture!

I save each and every one I see on here like that... Anything to do with Lizzie or FR.

I regularly go through them in order to clean them out and never delete a one of them!

FairhavenGuy @ Sat Nov 13, 2004 10:10 pm wrote:Because Fall River and Fairhaven are right on the coast, the warm ocean water keeps us rather warmer here than even a few miles inland.

That was true of where I used to live in N.Y. (Yonkers). The weather was much colder and snowier north of us.

After Lizzie was indicted in December 1892, John Morse, asked for and received permission to return to Iowa with his promise to return when needed. With apologies to Audrey, I think Fall River would have been a heck of a lot warmer in the winter than Iowa. If I remember correctly Uncle John had moved back to the FR area in 1889. However he still owned the farm in Iowa and off-hand I don't remember whether he made trips back during the 1889-1892 period. It just seemed strange for him to want to return in December.

Auds, I like that photo too. Looks almost Currier and Ives like. At least they put a blanket on the horse (and possibly even a hat?).

Iowa is bitter cold in winter....

When I visited John's farm I noticed it did seem tucked in at the bottom of a hill. It also had a lot of trees lining the road-- trees which may have been there in his times and been a good wind buffer.

Traditionally, his part of Iowa is 5-8 degrees warmer than mine!

I remember Boston as being as cold as it is in Iowa and with as much snow. But Boston is very different from FR. Those cursed nor'easters!

They said we were done with '80's but it was 82 yesterday.

Chris, that description about snowfall in SE MA was right on the money. After I went out and shoveled my driveway and sidewalk, the sun came out and melted the snow from everyone else's driveyway who choose not to shovel. I should have known.
Their saying sunny and low 50's for the rest of the week so this snow was an unexpected thing so early in the season. Summer pretty much passed us by so I hope that we will at least be able to enjoy a full Fall season.

Kat @ Sun Nov 14, 2004 12:31 am wrote:They said we were done with '80's but it was 82 yesterday.

Ok Kat.... Don't say I haven't warned you about bragging about those 80 degree days in winter!

Sigh...
I think these nice days are already bought and paid for this past summer. This is our Fall. That and trees down everywhere...I still have huge branches lying in my backyard.
Next weekend we are going to cut them up with a chainsaw.

Mark! Don't you have enough to do rather than shoveling melting snow?

Kat I envy you. We moved from Orlando to Atlanta two years ago. Atlanta winters are not bad but I sure miss winter in Central FL.

I grew up and still live in western Connecticut where we get our share of snow (average 40-50 inches a year), sleet, freezing rain, cold winter rain, and temperatures down to 0 degrees (F) and below. Two or three winters ago we had over 100 inches of snow here but that is unusual. Nevertheless, the coldest I have ever felt was winter in the Boston area where I went to college. You just can't beat 20 degrees with a cold, raw, and steady east and northeast wind blowing in off the Atlantic ocean!

People from other parts of New England tend to think of southeastern Connecticut, Rhode Island, southeastern Massachusetts, and the Cape and Islands as the next best thing to tropical!

The coldest we ever were was in London in February, 1986. The natives all said it was the coldest since the War. We left Orlando in 87 degree heat and arrived at Heathrow in a blizzard. Everyone asked us WHY?
Anyway, that was bone-numbing cold- so cold I couldn't get warm.
We arrived home in 87 degrees, March 13th and shed clothing and the orange blossoms were blooming and the honeysuckle- it smelled like a garden after all the diesel fumes!
Come to find out, every winter is numbingly cold there and the natives always tell the tourists it's the coldest since the War!

We're in lower NH, and our snow patterns tally pretty well with Chris's: not much this early and melting rapidly--as a rule. I do remember one Thanksgiving Nor'easter and another one on Halloween. I think it's a mite colder here than in lower Mass, and our snowfalls tend to beat out Boston by an inch or so. One thing that fascinates me is the difference in weather between locations separated by only a few miles in our region: we can have a thunderstorm on one side of town only or snowfall at the top of a hill but not at the bottom!

--Lyddie

We have that phenomenon in Florida.
When we lived in Cocoa Beach, it would rain in the back yard but not rain in the front yard.
We were 2 blocks from the ocean, so the Atlantic Breeze had a lot to do with that.

Here in Central Florida, it will storm at my house and not at Stefani's. I actually noticed she and I had different weather during the hurricanes and we are within 10 miles of each other!