The Year 1940 Had Extreme Weather

Extreme Weather Conditions Hit The County in 1940

The year 1940 in Crittenden County was a year of extreme weather conditions. From the archives of The Crittenden Press, let's take a visit to 1940 and see what was in store for the county.

January 5, 1940. The year started out with the Ohio being frozen over at Dam 50 for two days. W. D. Hatcher, lockmaster at Dam 50, reported a two-inch depth of ice over the Ohio from bank to bank extending from Dam 50 to the mouth of the Wabash. This was the first solid freeze of the river since the winter of 1936 when a low of five below was reported and the weather remained below freezing for a period of four days.

The season's low was reported Jan. 2nd when the mercury dropped to two above. In downtown Marion,temperatures of two to three above were reported Jan. 3^rdwith Tuesday night being the most severe. Following a two inch snow fall, a thaw proved detrimental. A light mist began to fall and froze as it struck the ground. Highways were coated with ice and became treacherous.

Down in the Tolu area of the county, Claude Arflack and a group of men who had stock wintering on Hurricane Island, opposite Tolu had to cut ice before placing a boat in service to remove the stock.  The men laid a board plank walk and used large saws. After sawing the ice in blocks the loosened portion and then shoved it downward into the current with the aid of skid poles. After completing the path a ferryboat will be used to remove the stock.

Several residents of the Tolu community walked across the river and reported solid ice from Kentucky to Illinois.

January 26 came and with it temperatures 15 degrees below January average. The third blast of the season struck the county Wednesday night driving the mercury to 5 below. At noon if only had climbed to 10 above with no thawing. A two-inch snowfall early Tuesday morning making the total for the past thirty day 17 inches. Freezing temperature and piercing winds followed, placing crusts on the coating making walking hazardous and halting traffic.

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April 3^rd. Spring finally came and with the change of season more severe weather.

On the night of April 3^rd the county was struck by a twister. Freakish in all respects, the sections suffering heaviest were Tolu and the Iron Hill and Sugar Grove areas.

In the Sugar Grove-Tribune sections, a barn was unroofed on the farm of Henry Paris, a similar structure of Frank Woodsides was twisted from the foundation and practically demolished. Sol and Cecil Baker each lost barns and the home of Hubert Hunt was completely unroofed. P. P. Lamb and Homer Travis, adjoining farms, were the largest sufferers. Lamb had two barns destroyed and lost a large steer when the animal was trapped under a falling roof. Travis' home was blown several feet from its foundation and in addition a large barn and small shed was down.

Cedar Lane, known to all Crittenden countains, was twisted, torn and will never again be the picture of scenic beauty that it previously presented.

One of the largest trees in the Iron Hill-Deanwood sections was uprooted directly opposite the front porch of the home of Joe Dean with roots protruding several feet in the air and within jumping distance of the porch, but no damage was done to the porch or house. The storm was apparently split by Iron Hill as no damage was done beyond.

It was reported that buildings on the farm of George Dowell were damaged and the home of Hodge Tabor, near the E'town and Tolu-Y was twisted and blown from the foundation. Luther Hardesty had a barn town down and house unroofed.

In the southern section of the county, the storm unroofed several sheds and a home in the Mexico section, the blow next struck Mott City at the intersection of Princeton-Dycusburg highway. Mr. Mott and son, Glenn, were in the large stone building attempting to hold the doors closed and were thrust aside, the doors blew open and the velocity of the wind was sufficient to blow the rear wall of concrete blocks aside as if it were paper. Some of the blocks were thrown a distance of 12 feet from the wall.

April 26^th. With melting snow from the north mixing with heavy rainfall along the path of the river, the Ohio river flooded.

The river bottoms were covered and many ferry boats were not operating. No stock drowning or damage had been reported, the owners being warned and having time to remove the animals and anchor buildings in the areas that would be flooded.

The damage to roadbeds was severe caused by heavy winds that lashed at dirt fills for many hours and complicated by the swift current. All bottoms and lowland had been under water for ten days with many low lying roads being cut off from any traveling.

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Next came summer with it's heat wave and drought.

July 26^th. Severe and intense heat over the entire county has caused much suffering and discomfort during the last four days with temperatures ranging well above 90 degrees. In many fields pastures and crops are drying badly.

August 2^nd. Fourteen days of heat wave, and for several days the Mercury was near 100 degrees for the last five days. Crops in the fields were wilting and pastures searing and in many sections ponds for stock watering purposes dry and water being hauled from wells to pastured stock.

August 8^th. Heavy showers finally bring relief and broke the fourteen day heat wave.

August 23^rd. Severely high winds hit the county and damaged many acres of corn in all sections of the county and fall yields were decreased by 40 to 50 percent. The wind was freakish, shattering large trees and unroofing several barns in scattered sections. The rains following the high winds did much to aid late crops but many acres of corn were beyond aid. In the lower river bottoms pastures assumed green surfaces and ponds filled that had been dry for the past three weeks.

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Fall comes and with it more damage from the weather of 1940.

On November 11^th comes a severe windstorm that wrecks a familiar landmark.

The severe windstorm that struck Monday, Nov. 11^th, blew down the covered portion of a familiar landmark, the Covered Bridge, on old Fords Ferry Road at the crossing of Crooked Creek. Abutments and floor had been repaired recently and these were not damaged.

In addition to the bridge damage, several barns were unroofed, trees uprooted and chickens killed.

The blow came early Monday morning following the severe downpour Sunday night.

Marion water supply was replenished and the spillway reported overflowing.

After the windstorm Monday, the temperatures began to drop and ice was reported in many places on Tuesday. Wednesday, Nov. 13^th, was the coldest of the fall season.

So ends a rough weather year for Crittenden County. It's interesting to read and learn of these past weather conditions that affected the area in years past.