Iowa History Daily: On September 9, 1883, Iowans awoke to find a world covered in frost as the earliest general fall freeze on record blanketed the state. Reports throughout the state poured in of low temperatures at or below the freezing mark.
In the extreme southern reaches of Iowa reports from Muscatine and Keosauqua reported temperatures plummeting to right at the freezing mark as a cool weather pattern sailed across the upper-Midwest. “Quite a severe frost,” quipped an observer in Muscatine.
Farmers throughout the state worried about ‘soft’ corn resulting from the unseasonable conditions. The Winnebago Summit of Forest City reported: “The damage to corn is serious, and will reach into the millions of dollars. The crop along the line of the Illinois Central Railway in Iowa will be at least three-fifths, if not more, of a full crop.”
Reports out of Cedar Rapids proved more favorable, with the Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette reporting lesser damage to corn in the eastern portion of the state. The paper did however detail significant damage to other food crops including potatoes and other garden produce. #IowaHistoryDaily #IowaOTD #IowaHistoryCalendar
