(This photo is meant to be blurry).   The summer of 2009 in the Northeast so far has been sort of un-summerlike.  The temps haven’t reached 90 since April, they’ve barely gotten into the high 80’s…which is super fine with me as I don’t like  hot weather.  It’s also been the eighth wettest June.  So, wet plus low temps equals un-summerlike weather.

The summer of 1816 however is known as the ‘year without a summer’. Why?  In April of 1815 the volcano Mount Tambora in the East Indies erupted and the sun was diminished by the ashy blanket spreading around the planet.  You’d think then that the summer of 1815 would be the year without a summer…but no, it was a weather pattern, time lag thing that caused 1816 to be the summerless summer.

According to an article in the Aug 1991 Martha’s Vineyard Magazine , Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket experienced frost every month of the year.  On the 4th of July people were wearing overcoats and on August 17 the temperature barely hit 38 degrees.  Really not beach weather.

So I guess no matter how much we complain about the weather there has almost always been a time when it’s been worse.  I’ve heard it said many times by knowing New Englanders that ‘if you don’t like the weather wait a minute and it will change’.  And it does.