In Ridgeway’s early days, dressing up for Easter was an event in itself. It was a time to show off your Easter finery and especially your new hat. But in 1909, the weather made wearing those new hats a bit difficult. “While the day was one of comparably clear sunshine and not an extra chilly one, a regular Kansas wind made it very disagreeable one to be out of doors.” On Saturday, the weather was fair, but “On Saturday afternoon, the barometer, which had been pointing to fair weather, took a sudden turn and chased itself rapidly back to the point which reads ‘stormy’ in good big letters.”
Sunday started with the wind: “the storm commenced on Sunday morning in the shape of a gale of wind which kept it up throughout the day until after midnight”. At midnight, it started to rain heavily with intervals of snow and sleet. This continued until around noon on Monday when “the clouds broke away and sunshine prevailed once more.” (Ridgeway News, Apr 15, 1909).
