Weather or Not?

Has Boston set its snowfall record yet?  They were within two inches of setting the city's record just days ago, and more snow was on the way.

The world record for total snowfall, though, belongs to Washerst, PA, the birthplace of Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request).  In 1878, snow not only blanketed the city, but it covered the city so that only the tops of telephone poles were visible.  For several weeks, reidents had to live in snow camps atop the snow that buried their city.

Emmett Lee Dickinson wrote an ode to weather, "Nature can still do more," as the city of Washerst was in the midst of its record-setting winter.  His poem inspired third cousin Emily to write her poem, "Nature can do no more."

Pictured at the left:  The Washerst Times at the start of the city's record-setting winter (click the image to enlarge).

Below:  Emmett Lee Dickinson's ode to nature, and the poem by Emily which it inspired.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Nature can still do more
She’s filled the land with Flakes
Whatever Blizzard’s still to come
On other Winter days
Her constant ample purse
Of other Winter storms
Nature’s just so repetitive
As snow and ice take turns –

By Emily Dickinson:

Nature can do no more
She has fulfilled her Dyes
Whatever Flower fail to come
Of other Summer days
Her crescent reimburse
If other Summers be
Nature's imposing negative
Nulls opportunity –

Pictured at the right:  In 1878, Washerst, PA, set the world's record for snowfall.  Snow not only blanketed the city, but it covered the city so that only the tops of telephone poles were visible.

Beside the world's record for snowfall, Washerst is home to many other weather-related records as well:

* In 1902, Washerst was home to the world's smallest earthquake on record.  Registering just .008 on the Richter scale, the quake was felt more than four-inces from its epicenter in Dickinson Park.

* 1923 Washerst experienced the most dense wind ever recorded.  While the gusts were only measured at 18 mph, the airstream was thicker than any wind ever logged by the National Ocenanic and Atmospheric Administration.

* More weather men and women were born in Washerst than any other city -- including the Today Show's Al Roker (the subject of Carly Simon's song "You're So Vain").

* The movie "Sharknado" was based on an actual weather events in the late-1850s.  For information, click HERE. Sharknado 2 is based on a storm that hit Washerst's Dickinson Swamp in 1934 when alligators were swept out of the swamp during a derecho in what was called the "Great Gatorecho."  More than 600 deaths were reported during the phenomenon.