The Yellow Day |
The "Yellow Day" that came to New England and New York State on September 6, 1881, has been ascribed, like many other such phenomena - to a prairie fire or forest fire in the Far West, it's smoke at high altitude being concentrated by local atmospheric eddies. Be that as it may, there were no fires that day, and no fires have been associated with the Yellow Day. According to the Springfield (Massachusetts) Daily Republican, the day began with a heavy ground fog before sunrise; "as the sun rose invisibly behind, the vapours became a thick, brassy canopy, through which a strange yellow light pervaded the air." Natural colors were distorted, yellow flowers appearing gray and the grass a bluish color. Gas and electric lights were turned on throughout the city, although both seemed to emit an unnatural light themselves. "There was a singular luminousness on every fence and roof - ridge, and the trees seemed ready to fly into fire." The strange light deepened and brightened until it finally began to pass in midafternoon. Even then, the sun looked like a rouge-colored ball surrounded by yellow clouds. The temperature throughout the day was very close and oppresive, and the physical effect was one of heaviness and depression. Nature, 24:540, October 6, 1881 |
