North Lincolnshire hailstorm 1883

[LawLord]

It might have taken place 125 years ago but after reading about this storm as a teenager it has always facinated me. This is not least because a monument was made commemorating the event, from bricks that were awaiting firing when the storm occurred, and which were heavily pitted by the large hail, thus preserving a record.

My own researches have elicited that the storm travelled in a SE-NW direction, beginning at Caistor and ending at Barton on Humber (where the bricks were awaiting the kiln and the monument erected). It was the subject of a paper in Symonds Met Mag and a report was read out at a meeting of the Royal Met Society. The monument survived until the 1950's when it seems to have mysteriously vanished.

Does anyone have any further information about or interest in this Victorian storm? If so I would be most interested to hear from you. Does anyone know what happened to the monument and does any part of it survive? I am hoping that someone in the Humberside area might know something about it.

I am very new to this forum and as you can already see I have an interest in historic weather as well as what is going on now (like the severe thunderstorm today that wasn't...)

[Phil UK]

I wasn't born then but...

Mr Data, WAKE UP!!!!

I can only go so far back as September 1958. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Phil.

[Jane Louise]

It might have taken place 125 years ago but after reading about this storm as a teenager it has always facinated me. This is not least because a monument was made commemorating the event, from bricks that were awaiting firing when the storm occurred, and which were heavily pitted by the large hail, thus preserving a record.

My own researches have elicited that the storm travelled in a SE-NW direction, beginning at Caistor and ending at Barton on Humber (where the bricks were awaiting the kiln and the monument erected). It was the subject of a paper in Symonds Met Mag and a report was read out at a meeting of the Royal Met Society. The monument survived until the 1950's when it seems to have mysteriously vanished.

Does anyone have any further information about or interest in this Victorian storm? If so I would be most interested to hear from you. Does anyone know what happened to the monument and does any part of it survive? I am hoping that someone in the Humberside area might know something about it.

I am very new to this forum and as you can already see I have an interest in historic weather as well as what is going on now (like the severe thunderstorm today that wasn't...)

Hi LawLord and welcome to the forum .

We have a storm enthusiasts community group as shown in my signature below, which features historic weather and thunderstorms in history..Please feel free to post in there as well as in here if you like .

[LawLord]

Hi LawLord and welcome to the forum .

We have a storm enthusiasts community group as shown in my signature below, which features historic weather and thunderstorms in history..Please feel free to post in there as well as in here if you like .

That sounds excellent thank you and I have a great interest in historic weather. Will certainly post there as well. I have a collection of severe storm memorabilia such as medals, coins and tokens commemorating tornados (yes they really do exist) and related items. Would it be worth posting scans and a few notes?

[Weather-history]

Hello Lawlord, here's some info I have on the storm.

Storm travelled SE to NW from Caistor to Barton-upon-Humber

Large drops of rain fell initially and this turned torrential with frequent lightning and continuous thunder. One eye witness described the hail that fell as not like hailstones but "salt cellars", another as "duck eggs". The hail weighed between 2ozs to 6ozs and some were about 6 inches in circumference. Damage to crop in the area was estimated to be at least £20,000.

The town of Barton-Upon-Humber was hit by the storm between 10 and 10.20pm. Very few panes of glass facing SE survived and many greenhouses were destroyed.

One hailstone was 2.5" long, 2" wide and 1" deep. The hailstones were striated with opaque lines and had an opaque core with a translucent covering.

Mount Pleasant Nursery lost over 2000ft of conservatory glass and plants inside these solariums were badly damaged.

One man travelling in the storm had his hand severely bruised.

Many dead birds were found killed in gardens.

Some ditches were still filled with 2ft of hail the next afternoon.

[jonathan webb]

This is what we have in the TORRO database -similar

Time of storm (21-22 h) Shallow depression over Ireland drifting slowly east.

Great destruction accompanied this H6 hailstorm across North Lincolnshire. It is commemorated by a monument in Barton-on-Humber which was made out of bricks dented by the hailstones while being sand dried; 15 tons of glass were reported broken in the town. The swath was SSE-NNW from Caistor to Barton. (Meteorological Record, R Met Soc 1883)

This storm was the culmination of a very thundery week; e.g severe hailstorms also featured in the Midlands on 29th June....also Bardneyin Lincs on 30th

Caistor >Killingholme >Immingham >Barnetby-le-Wold > Ferriby > Barton-upon-Humber (Lincs) 20km

It might have taken place 125 years ago but after reading about this storm as a teenager it has always facinated me. This is not least because a monument was made commemorating the event, from bricks that were awaiting firing when the storm occurred, and which were heavily pitted by the large hail, thus preserving a record.

My own researches have elicited that the storm travelled in a SE-NW direction, beginning at Caistor and ending at Barton on Humber (where the bricks were awaiting the kiln and the monument erected). It was the subject of a paper in Symonds Met Mag and a report was read out at a meeting of the Royal Met Society. The monument survived until the 1950's when it seems to have mysteriously vanished.

Does anyone have any further information about or interest in this Victorian storm? If so I would be most interested to hear from you. Does anyone know what happened to the monument and does any part of it survive? I am hoping that someone in the Humberside area might know something about it.

I am very new to this forum and as you can already see I have an interest in historic weather as well as what is going on now (like the severe thunderstorm today that wasn't...)

[0000]

Hello Lawlord, here's some info I have on the storm.

Storm travelled SE to NW from Caistor to Barton-upon-Humber

Large drops of rain fell initially and this turned torrential with frequent lightning and continuous thunder. One eye witness described the hail that fell as not like hailstones but "salt cellars", another as "duck eggs". The hail weighed between 2ozs to 6ozs and some were about 6 inches in circumference. Damage to crop in the area was estimated to be at least £20,000.

The town of Barton-Upon-Humber was hit by the storm between 10 and 10.20pm. Very few panes of glass facing SE survived and many greenhouses were destroyed.

One hailstone was 2.5" long, 2" wide and 1" deep. The hailstones were striated with opaque lines and had an opaque core with a translucent covering.

Mount Pleasant Nursery lost over 2000ft of conservatory glass and plants inside these solariums were badly damaged.

One man travelling in the storm had his hand severely bruised.

Many dead birds were found killed in gardens.

Some ditches were still filled with 2ft of hail the next afternoon.

Mr.D what is 20,00 pounds worth of damage equivalent to in todays money?

[LawLord]

Thank you everyone for this information. Much apperciated and I can "re-enact" this storm in my mind. I will find a few more historic storms and post them.