Judd Quoted in Sun Journal Article on Year Without Summer

Richard Judd, a history professor at the University of Maine, was quoted in a Sun Journal article about the summer of 1816, which is referred to in Maine as “the year without a summer” and “the summer that never was.” A massive volcano that erupted in Indonesia a year earlier was credited for causing the yearlong winter, according to the article. The summer of 1817 also was cold and prompted many Mainers to move to Ohio, which “promised opportunity, cheap property, better soil and warmer weather,” the article states. Even though the soil was rich in Ohio, the weather wasn’t warm because the state was in the same weather pattern as New England. Many Mainers returned, but Judd said he doesn’t think it ever equalled the amount of people who left.