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IN the summer of 1635, the few English settlements scattered along the coast of New England were struggling to gain a foothold in the new world. Plymouth had indeed existed for fifteen years, but most of the villages had been founded only a few months, or a few years at the longest. On the Connecticut coast there was not a hamlet, and in the whole state in fact no settlement had been made, except at Wethersfield, on the Connecticut river. There, a few men had spent the preceding winter, their number having been increased this summer by some new colonists, who suffered for awhile with the others, and finally travelled across the wild country to Saybrook fort, the nearest place of refuge. Not another settlement could be found nearer than Plymouth, which was more than a hundred and fifty miles away, and separated therefrom by an unbroken wilderness inhabited only by Indians and wild animals. Following the coast of Massachusetts Bay, the next town beyond Plymouth was Scituate, then came Bear Cove (now Hingham) and Weymouth. The several settlements at or near the mouth of Charles river, most of them now being included in the city of Boston, came next. A short trip up the river, and a turn to the right through the woods brought Rev. Peter Bulkley and his small company to the site they had chosen for their new home, - this being the first colony that had penetrated the forest so far. In this summer of 1635 they marched into the woods and took possession of the clearing they had made, building for their shelter huts covered with bark and brushwood. Farther along the coast was Saugus (now Lynn), then came Salem, Ipswich and Newbury. At the mouth of the Piscataqua river stood Portsmouth, and up the stream was Dover. Nine miles from Portsmouth and also on the coast was York. With the exception of these few, small, defenceless settlements in the clearings of the forest along Massachusetts Bay from Plymouth to York, and of Wethersfield, in Connecticut, the entire region now incl

THE only total eclipse of the sun visible in New England during the present century occurred on Monday, the sixteenth of June, 1806. The day was unusually beautiful, scarcely a cloud being discernible in any part of the New England sky. The air was dry and serene, and so still that the very gentle breeze which came from the northwest was hardly distinguishable. Nature gave every opportunity for observation.

A COLD northeast storm of wind, rain and snow raged along the coast of New England during the latter part of March, 1830, producing a great tide, which in some parts exceeded the highest tide remembered there. The storm began on the morning of Friday, the twenty- sixth, and continued till one o'clock in the afternoon, the tide being at its height at noon of that day.

At about one o'clock in the morning of Sunday, January 7, 1770, commenced a rain storm, with the wind blowing from the southeast, which caused the greatest freshet perhaps that ever occurred in New England. The weather had been very cold and dry through the month of December, and ice had formed extremely thick and strong. The storm continued with violence all through Sunday and until the next day at noon, when the clouds rolled away, and the sun again appeared. A very high tide occurred at this time and the combination of storm, wind and tide produced a freshet which caused the water to rise in many places ten feet higher than usual, and to remain at that height for several days.

IT was said centuries ago that lightning strikes churches oftener than residences. In reference to this saying Cotton Mather wrote in the seventeenth century: " New England can say so. Our meeting houses and our ministers' houses have had a singular share in the strokes of thunders." This summer of 1770 seemed to prove these assertions, and if Mather had then been alive he would doubtless have mentioned this evidence in support of his claim. The principal showers during the summer occurred as follows.

The most terrible wind that had been experienced in western Connecticut since its first settlement passed over a portion of the country at about five o'clock on the afternoon of Thursday, June 19, 1794. Its general direction was from the northwest to the southeast. It first appeared in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where it blew down several buildings, and destroyed other property. In Connecticut it passed through the towns of New Milford, Newtown, Watertown, Waterbury, Northford and Branford.

THE winter of 1786-87 set in very early. At Warren, in Maine, on the fourteenth of November the St. George's river was frozen so hard and thick that the ice bore horses and sleighs as far down as Watson's Point, and on the following day to the mouth of the stream. It did not break up until the latter part of the following March. The sloop Warren, lying at the wharf in Thomaston and loading with a cargo for the West Indies, was frozen in and compelled to remain there all through the winter. By the twentieth of November, the harbor of Salem, Mass., was frozen over as far out as Naugus Head; and the Connecticut river was congealed so quickly that, at Middletown in that state, within twenty-four hours after boats passed over it the ice had become strong enough to bear heavy weights and people were driving on it with their horses and sleighs. Frozen into the river were between thirty and forty vessels that had been prepared for their voyages, the masters expecting to sail before the river was closed by ice. The month of December was unusually severe, and snow storms came frequently and terrifically, great quantities of snow covering the earth to a depth that impeded travel in all portions of the country. The remainder of the winter was also severe, and in the vicinity of Rockland, Me., snow remained on the ground as late as April 10, so deep and hard-crusted that teams passed over the fences in every direction without obstruction.

Understanding the historical frequency, duration, and spatial extent of drought also assists planners in determining the likelihood and potential severity of future droughts. The characteristics of past droughts provide benchmarks for projecting similar conditions into the future.

Weather story from Minneapolis/St Paul Office of the NWS.

ABOUT five o'clock in the afternoon of Wednesday, August 23, 1786, the people of Sturbridge and Southbridge, Mass., and Woodstock, Pomfret and Killingly, Conn., saw rising in the Northwestern sky a dark cloud, which whirled around and around, and with unusual velocity moved up to the zenith. It spread over all the sky that was visible to the people of that neighborhood in a few moments and darkness, surpassing that of the dark day of 1780, settled over them. The people had not long to ponder on what was about to take place, as in a moment or two a whirlwind or hurricane struck across the towns named, and the wind had wrought its work and sped on and up. The sky quickly grew light again, and the clouds passed away to the eastward. So suddenly and so expeditiously was the entire destruction wrought, and the sky so quickly cleared again, it would have seemed like a dream but for the killed and wounded people and cattle, the levelled houses and barns and other evidences of the awful hurricane lying all about. Pen cannot describe the dreadful havoc and injury that can be accomplished in a moment's time by one of these unwelcome visitors, and this instance of the wind's power is accounted one of the most destructive in our history.

THE winter of 1717-18 was acknowledged to be unusually cold, and the spring which followed was late, windy and uncomfortable. On Saturday, April 26, a violent easterly storm prevailed along the coast of Massachusetts. It was made memorable on account of the wreck of the notorious pirate ship Whidah. The commander of it was that infamous leader among freebooters, Samuel Bellamy, stories of whose brutal cruelty and daring exploits were often told about the firesides of the people here, a century and a half ago. The Whidah carried twenty-three guns and was manned by one hundred and thirty men.