Meteorologist Fact-Checks Weather in “Little House on the Prairie”

Wednesday, 31 August 2011 | by Pat's Picks

How long exactly was that winter? A meteorologist from Nebraska has undertaken an unusual project says the Lincoln Journal Star. Barbara Mayes Boustead said she always had doubts about Laura Ingalls Wilder’s descriptions of the weather in her “Little House on Prairie” series. So she decided to fact-check her forecasts. Boustead says by and large, Wilder’s descriptions are accurate, despite writing the stories much later in life with the help of her daughter. According to her research, one blizzard described in “The Long Winter” happened on exactly the day Wilder said it did.

Boustead’s Blog: Wilder Weather

On Amazon: The Long Winter (Little House)