Well, we have had a fair number of volcanic eruptions recently...
Also, there were freaky cold winters in the mid 19th century due to
enormous volcanic eruptions in Southeast Asia and other places. One is the year the Thames froze, and the year that Frankenstein was written. Another is the staggering winter that is the subject of
Laura Ingalls Wilder's "The Long Winter"; of her family's near starvation and near freezing in De Smet, South Dakota.
Some interesting reading on "The Little Ice Age" (which was not an official ice age):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age#Causes