There was a very famous episode of The Twilight Zone, and one of our personal favorites, called “The Midnight Sun.” In that episode, the world is thrown into chaos as the Earth begins drifting closer and closer to the sun because of a cosmic anomaly. Temperatures soar. Cities become unbearable furnaces. People desperately search for the last drops of water on the planet as society slowly begins to break down under the crushing heat.. Then comes the unforgettable twist. By the end of the episode, the Earth changes direction and begins moving away from the sun instead. Suddenly, the unbearable heat is replaced with terrifying cold. The main characters discover they are now only weeks away from freezing to death.
Now thankfully we are not living through that exact scenario… but this week in Eastern Pennsylvania sure felt a little bit like it.
We began the week climbing toward the 100-degree mark when forecasts only predicted temperatures in the 90s. Humidity hung in the air like a wet blanket, the pavement radiated heat, and it felt as though summer had arrived all at once. It felt flat out disgusting. Yet today as this post is written, as Memorial Day weekend begins here in Eastern Pennsylvania, a forecast high of 55 never happened as it barely managed to touch 45 instead, with cold rains and blustery winds making it feel more like late November than the doorstep of summer. The only thing missing was the smell of Thanksgiving dinner..
It was the kind of raw, chilly day that makes you understand why the old timers always warned people never to plant their gardens before May 31..
This Memorial Day weekend will probably begin to improve a little as the days go on, but a day like today can shake your memory. Just a few short days ago people were reaching for fans and air conditioners, and tonight some are probably thinking about turning the heat back on. PA (and other states too) has always lived at the mercy of strange weather swings, but this particular week almost felt biblical in its mood changes. One moment it was the blazing “Midnight Sun”… the next it felt like winter was quietly trying to reclaim the mountains.
So on a weekend night like tonight, when block parties should be warm and beautiful with cold beer flowing and hot bellinis and bean soup keeping you going, the Englewood Fire Company closed its block party early because of the inclement weather.
And it was not just inclement… it was startling.
A few more degrees lower and you could almost swear there would have been snowflakes floating through the air this Memorial Day weekend.
By the time you read this it may already be tomorrow, next week, or many days after, and the weather will likely be entirely different because that is what weather does. But when you are standing in the middle of a dark and dreary day like today, with that winter-like feeling somehow existing alongside green leaves desperately searching for warmth, it almost makes you feel like the frightened people in “The Midnight Sun.”
Still, we have been here before.
Just a quick stroll down amnesia lane reminds us that Memorial Day, despite being called the unofficial start of summer, has sometimes instead become the continuation… and unofficial ending… of winter itself.
Take 1887 for example, when weather was reportedly so cold that snow fell in Warren in such quantities that Memorial Day services for fallen soldiers had to be moved indoors to a theater.
The winter of 1886 into 1887 was notoriously brutal across North America. In February of that same year, even San Francisco recorded an astonishing 3.7 inches of snow in the downtown area.
And then there was 1816… the famous Year Without a Summer. Pennsylvania was among the states affected by persistent cold spells, crop failures, and food shortages that spread across much of the Northern Hemisphere. Scientists today largely believe the bizarre climate was caused by massive volcanic activity elsewhere on the planet, which filled the atmosphere with ash and dust and dimmed sunlight around the world.
In 1816 there was also a persistent dry fog observed across parts of the United States that dimmed the sunlight itself. Some reports from that era claimed sunspots could even be seen with the naked eye through the haze. That sounds pretty harsh.
Back in 1919, the Call newspaper from Schuylkill Haven reported that Memorial Day was cold enough for overcoats. And temperature extremes like we saw this week are nothing new.
People reading this have lived through swings like this during their own lifetimes as well, such as in 1992 when temperatures plunged from near 90 degrees down into the 40s during May practically overnight.
The cold snap in ’92 spread across much of the country, damaging crops while temperatures in parts of the Midwest dipped into the twenties with frost and even snow being reported in some locations.
So we have been here before… and we will be here again.
We have experienced anomalies and swings in temperatures, snow, bitter cold, extreme heat, drenching rains, and everything in between.
But on a day like today, as this post is written while those howling cold winds blow outside, it feels strange because honestly it feels colder than the Bloomsburg Fair in October… and it is supposed to be the start of the summer barbecuing season.
I went outside after writing this post to take the ‘perfect’ photo of a flag I have near my sidewalk.. just as I snapped the picture a strong wind almost took the phone from my hand, and the air out of my lungs. I quickly went back in and turned the heat up…
Happy Decoration Day, everyone.
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