Has long island sound ever frozen over?

Answer 1

In doing some research on weather from newspapers and other sources, the following dates have evidence Long Island Sound has been frozen over: Years Long Island Sound Froze over

Years

month

comments

1637

Jan. 23.

Reference to ship-wrecked men making their way home to Boston from Long Island "upon the ice"

1697-98*1

Nov.-April

31 snowstorms

1704-05

Late December

Christmastime - Hudson R. frozen solid.

1719-20

Jan. 20-March 1

Hudson R. frozen solid - no vessels in or out of NYC

1732-33

Dec. - Jan.

NYC harbor frozen, LIS blocked by large chunks of ice.

1740-41*1

Nov., Jan, Feb-Mar.

More snow and longer freeze-ups than 1697-98

1779-801

Dec. - Jan.

People crossed LIS by horse and walking. Temperature recorded at -16oF. Possibly the coldest recorded winter. 42 in. of snow in southern CT. most harbors frozen 4 to 6 weeks. Ships frozen in.

1783

Feb. 10-17

Western LIS permitted sleds and wheeled vehicles to cross.

1786*1

Dec. 4

Hamden CT 20 in of snow, -12o F in Hartford on Dec. 12. First of 3 storms.

1815

Jan. & Feb.

NYC ice bound at end of Jan. Nantucket Sound "solidly congealed"

1821

Jan 16-30

Reached -17oF at Yale on 25th. Western Sound frozen, New Haven harbor frozen and out 7 miles into open Sound.

1835-36

Dec.15-16 Dec. 30-Jan 5. Jan 30 to Feb. 6

Sub zero temps.

-24oF in New Haven

Hist. of New London, CT

1856

Jan. 25-Feb. 27

All water leading into NY harbor frozen

1857

Jan.18-19, 23, 24

Severe winter week. Coldest month since Jan, 1780. LIS icebound for 30 days.

1865

Feb. 18

"Several vessels were observed fast in ice" off of Greenwich HC

1867-68

March 5

Ice prevented NYC to New Haven vessel traffic and sealed up LIS

1883

March 9

Big Ice Jam on LIS. Hartford Courant.

1885

Feb. 18

Vessels ice-bound. Passengers rescued by steamships. NYT

1886

Jan 27-Feb. 8

Norwegian bark stranded in ice in Smithtown bay. NYT

1888

Jan. 27

LIS Packed with ice. Vessels ice-bound. Hartford Courant

1889

Feb. 16

LI boy found floating on ice on Gardiner's Island. Hartford Courant

1893

Jan. 12-15

NYT articles on vessels frozen in ice.

1899

Feb 12,13,14

Vessels ice bound in harbors - NYT

1904

Feb. 1

Ice in the Sound for 8 weeks- Hartford Courant

1905

Jan. 26-Feb. 5

Tugs act as ice breakers. - Hartford Courant& NYT

1912

Feb. 17

Ice from New Rochelle to Execution Rocks, NYT

1917-18

Dec.-Feb 17

Cars driven across LIS from Port Jeff to Stamford - Jan. 1, New Haven -7oF average temp. 21.6 oF

1925

Jan. 30-31

Ice up to 18 in. thick surrounded Manhattan. Tugs had to rescue Sound schooners and vessels. Ferries had propellers sheared off. NYT

1934

Feb.

Coldest Feb. recorded at -15oF - average 17.4 in New Haven.

1940

Jan. 31

CG ice breaker damaged by ice! Hartford Courant

1948

Feb. 1

Food delivered by walking over ice to man on island. NYT

1955

Jan 30.

ice skater falls through ice on LIS. NYT

1963

Jan. 1

Tug disappeared, bodies and life boat encased in ice found in Huntington harbor. Hartford Courant.

1977

January-February

Weeks-long icing. Broke up Feb. 27. Fishing boats could not return to port ice was so thick. Hartford Courant

1978

Observed by Malcom Bowman Ph.D. (Stony Brook U.)

2003-04

Observation by TMA seal-cam in Sheffield Is. Lighthouse.

2004-05

Observation by TMA seal-cam in Sheffield Is. Lighthouse.

LIS freezing has an affect on dissolved oxygen, the presence of marine mammals, migratory and non-migratory birds and affects land temperatures and snowfall. The summers of 2004 and 2005 both had hypoxic conditions early.

A special thanks to the Library of Congress, and Stephen Rice of the Connecticut State Library for their help.

1. Ludlum, David, "The Country Journal New England Weather Book, Houghton Mifflin, 1976

2. Ludlum, David, "Early American Winters 1604-1820", American Meteorological Society, 1966.

3. Ludlum, David, "Early American Winters II 1821-1870", American Meteorological Society, 1968.

4. Ludlum, David, "Early American Hurricanes 1492-1870", American Meteorlogical Society, 1963

5. Bowman, Malcom, Ph.D.personal correspondence 8/11/08 regarding observed freezing in 1977 and 1978.

*Possible freeze-overs: 1641-42, 1680-81, Jan. 1805, 1816-17-18 due to Mt. Tambora eruption, 1821, February 1823, January 1827, February 1829, December 1831-Jan. 1832, Jan. 1835, February 1836, February 1838,, 1883-84 due to Krakatoa eruption, Dec. 1863-Jan 1864, Feb. 1899 a great freeze over US, December 30, 1933, Dec.1969 & Jan. 1970. These years had winter periods possibly cold enough - but no direct mention of frozen LIS was found.

Joe Schnierlein

Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk