Pensacola, Fla MEAN MONTHLY AND MEAN ANNUAL TEMPERATURES.-Continued. Philadelphia, Pa.. Rochester, N. Y.:: St. Paul, Minn..... Salt Lake City, Utah) Shre City, Iowa...] Spokane, Wash... Tampa, Fla. Tatoosh Is., Wash. Toledo, Ohio. Williston, N. Dak. Jan. Feb. March. Apr. | May. June. | July. | Aug. | Sept. | Oct. | Nov. Dec. An'u'l. 57 Station not now in operation. 12190 June. July. | Aug. Sept. | Oct. | Nov. Dec. | An'u'l 3.75 2.92 3.45 3.06 3.34 2.36 3.93 4.90 4.74 3.72 3.20 4.60 5.26 5.18 3.93 3.48 2.95 0.73 10.08 INNON 25.02 37.86 35.08 21.56 73.49 50.38 4.78 3.50 42.71 3.41 48.32 1.54 0.61 0.18 0.75 1.11 15.15 4.70 4.05 3.88 1.88 1.84 2.17 MEAN MONTHLY AND MEAN ANNUAL PRECIPITATION.—Continued. | Jan. Feb. | Mar. | Apr. May. June. July. | Aug. | Sept. Oct. Nov. Grand Haven, Mich... 2.66 2.21 2.29 2.53 3.42 3.87 2.71 2.67 3.55 Grand Junction, Col.. 0.61 0.59 0.83 Green Bay, Wis.. Dec An'u'l 3 22 2.99 Hannibal, Mo. 2.23 2.02 2.71 0.66 0.63 0.35 0.55 1.15 0.93 1.16 0.63 3.66 3.39 3.46 4.70 4.60 4.57 6.43 6.35 6.44 6.17 4.47 7.16 5.06 0.68 0.91 13.18 Huron, S. D. Idaho Falls, Idaho. Independence, Cal. 0.21 2.00 5.73 Indianapolis, Ind. 2.94 2.80 3.85 3.15 42.96 Jacksonville, Fla. 5.19 2.52 2.86 54.12 Jupiter, Fla. Kansas City, Mo. Lansing, Mich. 1.87 2.09 2 53 2.36 3.10 4.12 3.34 2.77 Lincoln, Neb. Lexington, Ky. 2.24 1.45 1.44 30.60 0.86 0.99 0.65 0.78 13.71 3.05 2.60 2.26 1.93 32.02 2.54 2.22 3.72 3.40 44.38 2.04 2.03 0.68 0.75 26.80 Little Rock, Ark.. 4.76 575 2.47 5.27 Los Angeles, Cal. 2.93 3.27 2.98 1.36 0.43 Louisville, Ky. 4.06 Lynchburg, Va. 2.94 3.05 42.85 Marquette, Mich. Memphis, Tenn. 5.52 5.31 4.68 3.51 3.61 Meridian, Miss.. 5.15 5.81 6.24 5.43 4.46 1.05 Milwaukee, Wis. 2.17 1.85 2.47 2.86 3,56 Montgomery, Ala. 5.37 5.34 6.47 4.80 4.05 4.67 4.53 4.13 Moorhead, Minn. 4.36 3.91 2.68 0.92 0.73 23.77 2.88 3.54 3.58 3.51 3.55 4.23 40.73 Nashville, Tenn. 5.09 5.29 5 20 4.79 3.59 4.30 4.31 2.48 3.85 8.53 5.29 4.84 2.25 New Brunswick, N. 3.82 3.64 3.79 3.68 4.02 4.12 4.21 3.50 3.65 2.95 4.94 5.12 New Orleans, La. 5.17 4.54 5.29 517 6.08 New York. N. Y. 4.04 3.80 3.99 3.38 3.18 3.13 4.26 Norfolk, Va. 3 83 2.88 2.07 2.81 North Platte, Neb. 0.47 0.42 0.75 2.17 2.70 Oklahoma, Okla. 5.48 Olympia, Wash. Omaha, Neb 4.37 Gswego, N. Y. I'alestine, Tex. Parkersburg, W. Va. F'ensacola, Fla.. Fhiladelphia, Pa. Fhoenix, Ariz. 4.68 3.90 5.46 3.48 4.80 3.33 3.77 3.89 57.09 3.28 2.90 3.21 0.30 0.13 Pierre, S. D.. 0.51 0.38 0.86 1.95 2.31 3.41 2.18 Pittsburg, Pa. 3.15 2.82 2.73 2.80 3.42 4.70 4.69 4.07 2.50 2.44 2.62 2.13 3.37 Portland, Me. 3.62 3.48 Fortland, Ore. Fueblo, Col. Kaleigh, N. C. 3.59 3.74 Rapid City, S. D. Redbluff, Cal.. 5.54 3.30 2.39 1.85 0.58 5.78 7.78 46.83 0.33 0.53 12.11 3.94 4.99 3.89 1.68 1.32 0 56 0.66 0.38 0.25 16.71 St. Paul, Minn. Salt Lake City, Utah. 1.44 1.28 San Antonio, Tex. 1.70 1.96 0.97 0.92 143 2.47 3.40 4.35 3.34 3.12 3.30 3.00 2.89 3.10 2.81 41.08 1.89 1.12 1.28 27.47 1.06 1.67 2.07 1.91 29.70 10.51 2.45 34.91 5.03 23.71 4.50 21.52 14.25 Savannah, Ga.. Seattle, Wash. Shreveport, La. Sioux City, Iowa Spokane, Wash. Springfield, Ill... Springfield, Mo Tacoma, Wash. Tampa, Fla.. Tatoosh Island, Wash. 12.73 Toledo, Ohio. 2.08 Topeka, Kan. 0 98 Valentine, Neb. 0 60 Vicksburg, Miss. 5.54 327 3.08 3.78 3.47 2.92 2,37 1 58 0.66 0.54 Vineyard Haven, Mass. 3.25 3.35 55.66 2.33 2.74 4.54 4.31 3.38 3.17 Walla Walla, Wash.. 2.43 1.36 1.83 1.59 1.67 3.93 4 27 1.39 0.30 0.17 0.92 2.17 16.77 2.07 0 98 0.55 0.69 14.70 0.96 0.96 0.78 0.15 0.08 4.07 3.15 4.05 4 34 4.28 3.82 3.10 2.85 1.44 0.66 0.80 26.82 0.14 0.35 0.15 0.28 0 29 • Station not now in operation. The Summer of 1902. Dur The year 1902 will figure in the local history of New York City as the year without a Summer. ing the thirty-two years of the existence of the United States Weather Bureau no such record for even and moderate temperature in the months of June, July and August has appeared upon the books of the local bureau here as during that year. There was practically no hot weather, the highest temperature reached being 91 deg., and there were but two days altogether when it reached 90 deg. The daily average ranged from 62 deg. on June 9 to 82 deg. on July 9. There were but two days when the average was 80 deg. or more, and only five other days which showed an average as high as 78 deg. The average temperature of the entire season was actually the average of the season for the past thirty-two years. The monthly averages for 1902 were: June, 68 deg.; July, 74 deg.; August, 71 deg. For the period of thirty-two years they are: June, 69 deg.; July, 74 deg.; August, 73 deg. In addition to the evenness and moderation of the temperature during the Summer of 1902 there was remarkable freedom from that high degree of humidity which, combined with even a moderately high temperature, makes the weather oppressive. As compared with the Summer of 1901 that of 1902 presents some striking similarities, together with some sharp contrasts. June opened even cooler in the earlier year than in the later, but the daily average rose and fell at about the same intervals and to nearly the same extremes during the first twelve days. The sharpest contrast in the record of the two years is found between June 22 and July 3, when the average daily temperature ranged from 76 deg. to 90 deg. in 1901, and from 63 deg. to 74 deg. in 1902. The highest daily averages in 1901 were 84 deg. in June, 90 deg. in July, and 80 deg. in August; in 1902 they were 78 deg. in June, 82 deg. in July, and 77 deg. in August. The lowest daily averages in 1901 were 59 deg. in June, 68 deg. in July, and 68 deg. in August; in 1902 they were 62 deg. in June, 67 deg. in July, and 65 deg. in August. During the Summer of 1901 there were fifteen days which had an average temperature of less than 70 deg., against twenty-nine days in 1902; and there were only seventeen days during the latter Summer which had a higher average than 75 deg., against forty-five days in 1901. The evenness of temperature during the Summer of 1902 is shown by the fact that the extreme daily averages for June were 62 deg. and 78 deg., a range of 16 deg.; for July, 68 deg. and 82 deg., a range of 14 deg.; for August, 65 deg. and 77 deg., a range of 12 deg.; the range for the entire season being only 20 deg. The Summer was remarkable also for the prevalence of gloomy weather. There were only 27 clear days during the entire season; 47 days were partly cloudy, and 28 were cloudy. There was rainfall on 36 days, amounting to 0.01 inch or more, and the total amount was slightly above the normal for the season. June, however, was extremely wet, the rainfall of 5.91 inches being 2.78 inches above the normal for that month. The total for the three months was 12.32 inches, the normal for the entire season being 12.09 inches. Highest and Lowest Altitudes in the United States. (From the latest reports of the United States Geological Survey.) Windstorms and Cornadoes in the United States. The difference between tornadoes, cyclones and hurricanes should be generally known. The ordinary windstorms which visit the United States are properly cyclones, and come usually from the northwest or southwest. Hurricanes never come from the northwest, but usually enter the United States from the south or southeast. They occur in late Summer or early Autumn, and are very violent, the wind often reaching the velocity of 60 miles an hour. Tornadoes are much smaller in size and much more dangerous than hurricanes, over limited areas. A tornado may be only a mile or so wide at the top and much less at the bottom. They occur most frequently in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys. The chief characteristics of the tornado are a pendant funnel and violent rotary winds over a well marked but narrow path. In the attached tables only storms meeting the requirements of this definition are included. Mr. Harvey Watts gives the following description of a tornado, which will aid in understanding fully the peculiarities of this class of phenomena. "The tornado is a purely local storm of great intensity and concentrated energy, whose main destructive effects are the results of almost incredible velocity of the rotary winds that blow spirally into and about its vortex. Though terrible to life and property, it is at the same time the smallest of local wind disturbances, being limited in duration, the width of path and extent of its track. In one case it may last but a few minutes along a track of a few hundred feet wide and a mile or so in length; in another it may persist for hours, its path several hundred yards in width and extending from fifty to one hundred miles in length. Its forward motion on its track may vary from fifteen to sixty miles an hour, but its speed is insignificant compared to the velocity of the rotary winds, which may have a speed from 100 to 500 mlies an hour.' Numerous attempts have been made to construct a list of tornadoes and tornado losses in this country for a long period of years, but owing to the difficulty in obtaining data, and the general disregard of the difference between tornadoes and ordinary windstorms, many of the lists are without value. As will be seen by the table, the Pacific Coast has suffered least from tornadoes, while the Middle States stand first in the list of losses. The loss by hurricanes, not given in the tables, is greatest on the Gulf and South Atlantic coasts, though New England has felt the effects of these violent southern storms. Cyclones are most destructive along the upper Atlantic coast, and the valley of the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes. PROPERTY LOSS BY TORNADOES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1889-1898. Loss of Life by Lightning in the United States. For about eleven years statistics have been collected by the United States Weather Bureau, to show the relative number of fatalities from lightning. Most interesting results have followed from this work, and some remarkable facts have been noted. It is obvious that the number of fatalities from lightning must depend partly upon the frequency of lightning strokes per unit area, partly upon the density of population and partly upon the character of thunderstorms that traverse the region. In the United States thunderstorms occur with considerable frequency over all the territory east of the one hundredth meridian, save a narrow strip along the northern border. West of this meridian, except in the Rocky Mountain region, the frequency steadily diminishes until it reaches practically zero on the Pacific coast. In the Gulf States the average number of deaths due to lightning per unit area is but one, though the average thunderstorm frequency is quite high. In the New England States, where the storm frequency is much lower, the average is two per unit area. Of course, this is directly dependent upon the density of population. The greatest mortality by lightning, considering both unit area and density of population, is in the Ohio Valley and Middle Atlantic States. If density of population only is considered, the greatest mortality is in the Upper Missouri Valley and the Rocky Mountain region. The very large mortality in the mountainous States of Colorado. Montana, Wyoming and the two Dakotas, emphasizes the necessity of persons residing in these States taking extraordinary precautions to avoid the danger of lightning strokes. The modern city building, with its metallic roof and steel frame is a fairly good conductor of eleetricity, and the multiplication of telegraph, telephone and electric light wires also adds to the effectiveness of silent discharges in relieving the tension during a thunderstorm. To avoid danger of lightning stroke, it is not judicious to stand near trees during thunderstorms, in the doorway of barns, close to cattle, near chimneys and fireplaces or near the terminus of a wire clothesline. Covering oneself up, or seeking the insulation of a feather bed does not seem to be of any use. Small articles of steel do not have the power to "attract" lightning, or to determine the path of the discharge. The following statistics of loss of life by lightning are compiled from the special report of the United States Weather Bureau: I Middle Atlantic: 3 3 |