2:16 A.M., the morning of June 12, 1935
Zero weather in midsummer ! And below zero ! How cold it got , there is no one to say . The abandoned recording instrument in the Weather Bureau was found , at 2:16 A.M. , the morning of June 12 , 1935 , to have touched minus 42 ° F . The gathering storm over the city burst with lightning and thunder claps through the blood-red radiance . And then snow began falling . A steady white downpour , a winter blizzard with the lightning flashing above it , and the thunder crashing .