Cape Cod History

1804: Snow hurricane wipes out crops, livestock, ships at anchor

The day a "snow hurricane" hit Massachusetts

On this dayin 1804, a "snow hurricane" struck Massachusetts. The storm began with winds so powerful that whole forests were leveled. Houses, barns, chimneys, and church steeples came crashing down. Even when the wind subsided, it continued to snow. As much as two feet fell in some places. Fruit was blown off trees and potatoes froze in the ground. Hundreds of cattle, sheep, and poultry died. Ships at anchor collided with each other and nearby wharves, killing the men on board. So many oaks and pines were lost that it was decades before the state's shipbuilding industry recovered. In some parts of Massachusetts, the storm changed the landscape so dramatically that people felt as though they were suddenly living in a new and unfamiliar place.

Background
The storm that left such a profound mark on Massachusetts began on the evening of Tuesday, October 9, 1804, when the temperature plummeted and rain and snow began to fall, accompanied by thunder and lightning. During the night and next morning, the wind blew from the southeast, but by the afternoon of the 10th, the wind had shifted to the northeast and increased in intensity. As Sidney Perley recorded in his 1891 book on historic storms of New England, "the wind reached its height in the evening,. . . People sat up all that night, fearing to retire lest their houses would blow down. Wednesday morning [the 10th] revealed the streets in town encumbered with sections of fence, whole or parts of trees, and many other things that the wind could carry away; the town and county roads everywhere were obstructed with fallen trees."

Just as the wind began to die down, it began to snow and snowed throughout Wednesday and into Thursday, with accumulations from five to 14 inches. In southern New England it melted in a few days, but further north it stayed on the ground until the following spring. It had been 50 years since the people of eastern Massachusetts had experienced such an early storm, and even the oldest inhabitants could not remember such a violent one.

Orchards were ruined when boughs, laden with ripe fruit, snapped under the weight of the snow. The woods resounded with the hideous noise of breaking tree limbs, dealing a severe blow to the region's shipbuilders. Large numbers of cattle, sheep, and fowl were killed, especially in the Essex County towns of Newbury and Topsfield.

"Such great sections of woods were leveled that new landscapes and prospects were brought into view to the surprise of many people. Houses and other buildings and hills that could not be seen before from certain places were now plainly visible. The change was so great in some localities that the surroundings seemed to have become entirely different, and people felt as if they were in a strange place."

"Buildings and chimneys were blown down or greatly damaged by the wind." Many churches lost spires and steeples, including the famous North Church in Boston. Few barns, sheds, or chimneys escaped unscathed. Roofs were blown off, houses collapsed, and many people lost their lives. Streets were filled with the debris of destroyed buildings, fences, and trees.

The most damage, however, occurred to wharves and ships. "Many vessels in the harbors dragged their anchors or broke their cables, and dashed against each other or the wharves, or were driven upon lee-shores and wrecked." Many seamen died as ships were run ashore or against reefs and sand bars. The sloop Hannah was blown out of Cape Ann harbor and struck a ledge off the shore of Cohasset, many miles to the south. The first wave that swept the deck carried off the crew with the exception of "two men who lashed themselves to the boom and remained on deck about two hours until the vessel went to pieces, when the boom with the men still lashed to it washed ashore. Several of the citizens of Cohasset saw the men plunging in the surf, and came to their assistance saving them when they were nearly exhausted." The Hannah was one of five vessels wrecked on the shores of Cohasset during the storm.