Geology humor aside, massive volcanic eruptions can dramatically change weather across the globe. The most recent “major” eruption to plague the panhandle with lopsided weather was back in 1907.
In late March back in 1907, the volcano Ksudach on the Kamchatka Peninsula of eastern Russia erupted, sending ash high into the atmosphere. That ash traveled along the jet stream to North America, the United States and eventually spread over most of the eastern two-thirds of the US.
Accumulating ash wasn’t a concern. but – eventually – accumulating snow was!
When the ash was ejected into the atmosphere it start to block out the suns energy. The winds in the upper atmosphere kept small ash and dust particles “floating” and kept a portions of the sun’s energy from reaching the lower levels of the atmosphere and the surface.
The result? An early spring to remember.
Imagine mid-March in 1907 working through a 90-degree day. Chances are you were a farmer or rancher, so you were probably tending to your fields or livestock. At that point, most likely preparing for – what you thought – would be a very hot spring.
The warmth wasn’t just in amarillo. According to DenverMark’s Wunderground Blog, it was all across the high plains! The near triple-digit heat (and 101-degree heat in Beaver, Oklahoma) hung around for a few days. Set a few records (which are still the records today) from the 18th-22nd.
Then things moderated. And then things got cold. Really cold.
While it wasn’t always a “record-setting” day, temperatures across the high plains ran below average. By mid-April, temperatures were on the order of 60 degrees colder then mid-March. On April 20, 1907 the high in Amarillo was just 32 degrees. The next day it was only 33. By the time it warmed up on the 23rd there was eight inches of snow on the ground.
The cold air stuck around through the first week in May. Record low temperatures – which still tand today – were set on April 29, 30 and May 3 and 4. After the first week in May, things began to moderate.
According to NOAA records the airborne ash began to dissipate in the atmosphere during May and into June. And then things were right back to normal.
One last note: To add insult to injury, in April 1907, a 3.6-magnitude earthquake hit near Amarillo.
