"At 6 p.m. on July 3, a fast-moving storm moved through Columbus. Sustained winds in excess of 50 miles per hour pounded the capital city for more than 20 minutes, accompanied by three-quarters of an inch of rain."

That's  6 p.m. on July 3, 1906.... according to Ed Lentz,  history columnist  for ThisWeek Newspapers.

What time did the storms hit last night? Luckily downtown Columbus with lots of people getting ready for Red, White and Boom was spared the hail, and severe lightening, etc.  that the Morse Rd. area, Hilliard,  Worthington, Westerville and other parts of Central Ohio faced July 3, 2006.

What a difference 100 years makes. I think July third is considered to be the first day of the Dog Days of Summer, which has to do with astrology, more than weather, the constellation Sirius the dog?  

Vicious storm wrecked 1906 July 4 festivities by Columbus historian and ThisWeek Columnist,  Ed Lentz,  Thursday, June 29, 2006 says:

"One-hundred years ago, things were done a bit differently. In fact, in 1906, many people were thankful anything was being done at all, because the most striking event of the holiday occurred not on the Fourth but on the day before."

"In a day before color radar and the other technological marvels of modern meteorology, weather forecasting was -- to say the least -- a little less definite than it is today. Some forecasts for July 3, 1906, predicted fair weather. Others mentioned the possibility of rain."

"The others were right. "

During the July 3, 2006 storm I was channel surfing watching the "technological marvels of modern meteorology", except when the power went off a couple of times.  What a difference 100 years makes. 

I went to Red, White and Boom.  Good show.

Copyright 2006 Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe