June 18, 2014 - "This section was visited by a severe rain and wind storm which did much damage"

A relatively brief thunderstorm in Bovina in the small hours of June 18, 2014 managed to do considerable damage in the Bovina Center hamlet and in other areas around the town. Here's a series of pictures I took the morning and evening of June 18. 

By Brush Cemetery, next to the library - 42.2622°N 74.7814°W

The Manse - 42.2631°N 74.7808°W

Another view of the Manse on Maple Avenue - 42.2631°N 74.7808°W

Bovina Museum - 42.2621°N 74.7833°W

Roz Foster's house - 42.2621°N 74.7867°W

Shoemakers - the large tree branch that looms over the house has broken from the tree and will need to be removed - 42.2621°N 74.7827°W

The old Currie house, now the house of Bea Vides and Walker Pond. Another tree that must be removed - 42.2621°N 74.7837°W 

Maple Avenue after start of the clean-up

Certainly not the first such storm in Bovina. A quick perusal of the Andes Recorder Bovina column brought up these three items:

July 25, 1902: On Sabbath [July 20], this section was visited by a severe rain and wind storm which did much damage. Perhaps John W. Blair on the J.T. Miller farm sustained the most damage – there it tore up the evergreen and other trees and damaged things in general. G.D. Miller’s butcher shop was literally tore to pieces.  In the village trees were blown down and some of the school house roof and chimney were smashed. In other parts of the town there was also a lot of damage.

September 1, 1916: A cyclone struck southern Bovina Sabbath afternoon [August 27] and did considerable damage.  Starting at the Boy’s Camp conducted by Robert L. Gerry on what is known as the Wight place, it blew down the doctor’s tent and uprooted some twenty apple trees.

The greatest damage was done on the farm of Thos A. Raitt where 88 trees were either up-rooted or twisted off.  Trees eighteen inches to two feet in diameter went down before the fury of the storm.  Among the trees were twenty apple trees and five or six pear trees and the others were in the woods.  Nearly all the apples were whipped off the remainder of the orchard.  The other trees taken were in the woods but fortunately the sap bush escaped.  A rocking chair which was in the front yard was picked up and carried about eight rods.

From Raitt’s the cyclone skipped over the hill and again swooped down at E.R. Worden’s at the top of the hill on the Turnpike.  There an apple tree, a maple tree and an elm were its victims. The next swoop of the instrument of destruction was made into the head of Gladstone Hollow.  At James L. Doig’s two chimneys were torn off his residence, an oak tree fell onto the milk house and smashed it, and some fruit trees and smashed it, and some fruit trees were torn up by roots.  What damage was done further on we have not learned.

September 18, 1925: A heavy storm of rain accompanied by a high wind, passed over Bovina on Saturday evening [September 12] and numerous trees were blown down.

Pictures from Fifty-eight Years Ago this Morning in Bovina

Citizens in Bovina woke up on August 14, 1953 to a major clean-up job.  The night before, the town was hit by a flash flood. The storm wiped out five bridges on Bramley Mountain and inundated Clayton Thomas's garage in Bovina Center. Bob Hall had just brought his car into Thomas's garage when the water hit. He spent 45 minutes perched on top of his car before it was safe to get down. An unoccupied house owned by Lester Hoy was moved completely off its foundation.  It would have moved even further had its progress not been stayed by a tree.  The damage from the flood was estimated to cost around $200,000 (equal to about $1.5 million in today's dollars). At the time of the flood, Bovina native Walter (Watt) Coulter noted that the last such flood to hit Bovina happened in 1894.

Photojournalist, Bob Wyer, was on the scene the night of the flood and the next morning to document the clean-up.  Here are some of the photos he took of that event, courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association (click on each image to see a larger version of it):

House along Brush's Brook the evening of the flood.  The house was moved completely off its foundation (see next photograph) and had to be demolished.  Note the high level of water in Brush's Brook.

The morning after.

Bridge at the lower end of the hamlet.  Note the logs propped up on the bridge.  This bridge was demolished two years later.

Cleaning up the damage by the bridge at Brush's Brook, looking 'downtown.'

Another view of the hamlet at Brush's Brook, looking 'uptown.'

Clayton Thomas pointing out the damage in his garage.

Will this winter never end?

In February 1880, the winter was the subject of discussion, as it is this year.  But in 1880, it wasn't the cold and wind that was the issue.  The Delaware Republican reported:  "The weather is very 'child-like and bland,' and how we are to tell when Spring commences, if this style of winter continues, is a question that perplexes the strongest minds, and all the reliable old weather sages, who in vain have prophesied the commencement of a hard winter at each change of moon for the past three months, have at least agreed that 'we will catch it sometime,' which remarkable conclusion is probably correct."

The winter of 1948, however, appears to have been anything but 'child-like.'  The Greene County Examiner-Recorder from Catskill, NY, dated February 19, 1948 reported that "Pipes Freeze as Springs Drop in Water Shortage."  Dated February 11, the article went on to report that the "farmers through this section are having serious water shortages due to the intense cold with no thaws to replenish the failing springs. Several farmers have had their springs get so low their pipes have frozen. If a break in the weather does not come soon, there will be the greatest water shortage that has been known for years."

You probably now hoping that the improving weather means spring is not far behind.   So I must remind you of weather history - the famous Blizzard of 88 (1888, by the way) happened in March.  Don't put away those shovels just yet.....

Rain Rain Go Away

It's October 1 and it looks like we may have another flood for the history books - at least for the local history books. Coulter Brook has come out of its banks in spots and my cellar is flooded. Today's flooding has led to closure of all county roads. I took a wander through the hamlet, from the bridge on Coulter Brook Road by the cemetery to the bridge at the other end of the hamlet by McPerson's. The little babbling brook is now a roaring river. Chuck McIntosh, who recalled the 1953 flood, thought the water levels were at least at the same level.

I took some pictures during my wanderings. The two pictures show Coulter Brook. The top photo was taken September 25, the bottom one on October 1. The video includes a video of Coulter Brook from about a year ago and a shot taken just a day before the flooding, as well as several shots of the October 1st flood itself.

Bovina's had a number of such events over the years. Take a look at my April 26, 2009 post about the 1953 Bovina flood and my June 22, 2009 post concerning a flood during the First World War.

In 1996 Bovina saw two different flooding events. The town wasn't hit as hard as some areas near by. The flood on January 19 hit Walton and Margaretville particularly hard. Another flood hit November 9, 1996. My dad noted that both events had the same numerals - ie 1/19/1996 and 11/9/1996. In both floods, Delaware County was declared a disaster area.

By this evening, the water is definitely receding from the October 1, 2010 Bovina flood - at Coulter Brook and in my cellar. It's time to get things dried out.

Bovina Weather History during the Great War

This weekend's almost non-stop rain once again made me think of weather in Bovina's history. During World War I, Bovina had at least two significant weather events.

In late October, the November 2, 1917 issue of the Delaware Express, reported "Pink Street Stream on Rampage - Drives out the Robsons." The article went on to report that "In and about Bovina Center the flood was the worst in forty years...and the Pink Street steam and Coulter Brook did considerable damage, especially the former.

"Harry Robson, who lives in W.A. Hoy's tenant house near the bridge by the Strangeway store, noticed about 4 A.M. that the water was lapping up to the windows of his abode and alarmed his neighbors who rang the firebell and came to the rescue with a milk wagon. The family thus made their exit by the way of the back door, but the water did not invade their home as was feared, and the furniture was not damaged.

"The foot bridge at the Strangeway store was washed away; Tracy Sherman's wood pile was moved out into the state road. Gideon Miller's blacksmith was flooded, many cellars were full of water, roads were badly washed and fences all along the Pink Street stream were destroyed..."

The following summer, Bovina had a record hail storm. The Delaware Express reported in its July 26 issue that on "Friday evening, July 19, at the end of a perfect day of haymaking Bovina, but especially Bovina Center, suffered one of the most furious hailstorms that she has ever had."

The Express went on to report that "Mountain clouds, as black as coal, drove haymakers scurrying into their barns. These clouds had a special grudge at the folks in the Center and poured upon them a most punishing fusilade of hailstones as big as hickory nuts. The ground was covered white with hail several inches deep, making the earth look covered with snow. Some piles of hail that had run off the roofs of the houses were eighteen inches deep. The hail was gathered up by the shovelfulls by the villgers and used for ice cream. The Red Cross members gathered large quantities and made ice cream for their festival on Saturday night. But on the other hand the hail did much damage to the gardens. It riddled everything. It cut up the corn especially, and made most of the gardens look like 'no man's land.'"

This weekend's (and this month's) rain certainly made the haying a challenge - and the lawns lush. But no major flooding, fortunately.

Record Breaking Heat and the 1953 Flood

My first blog posting written while in Bovina!

Bovina and the area came near to or broke the temperature record yesterday. It hit 90 at my house. I am not a fan of hot weather, so I found this to be a bit much for April. My dad loved the heat and would give me grief if I complained. So it goes, but I do like true spring weather. We don't seem to get much of that lately. It is nice, though, to open the windows, turn off the furnace and not to have to worry about pipes bursting when I leave the house.

The heat got me to thinking about Bovina weather - it tends to be a bit cooler than some of the lower surrounding areas because of its elevation. But that also means in the winter, it can get colder than the surrounding areas and impact temperature and snowfall. It can mean getting snow at odd times of the year. I remember a couple of May snowfalls, including one in 2002. And many of you won't soon forget last October's snowstorm that made news on National Public Radio and brought down a number of trees. Two feet in October is pretty freaky - even for Bovina.

One of Bovina's biggest weather events took place August 13, 1953, when a flash flood hit the hamlet of Bovina Center. The storm wiped out five bridges on Bramley Mountain and inaudated Clayton Thomas's garage. Bob Hall had just brought his car into Thomas's garage when the water hit. He spent 45 minutes perched on top of his car before it was safe to get down. The Binghamton Press noted that "a garage sized playhouse used by the children of Mr. and Mrs. Charles McIntosh was torn away from its foundation and carried some 200 yards..." An unoccupied house owned by Lester Hoy suffered a similar fate. The damage from the flood was estimated to cost around $200,000 (equal to about $1.5 million in today's dollars). At the time of the flood, Bovina native Walter (Watt) Coulter noted that the last such flood to hit Bovina happened in 1894.

We may break a temperature record today, but no floods are expected. So I'm out to enjoy the warmth!