I'd recommend consulting newspapers relating to the region and time period in question. It has been my experience that harsh conditions tended to be reported. For example--between Christmas and New Years in 1863, the temperature dropped from around +70F to -10F in just a matter of a couple of days in southeast Missouri. Of course something that extreme was widely reported, especially the effect it had on troops caught out in it. I would think that the weather conditions to which you refer probably resulted in some sort of mention in the press. I'd suggest scrolling through some of the weekly newspapers at first. Once you are able to narrow down the specific timeframe for the severe weather system hitting, then go to the bigger daily newspapers. The weeklies tended to provide an overview, while dailies sometimes provided more in-depth reporting regarding effect on people and livestock.