Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-10-25
PROPHET POTTS.


and the Later Rains.
EDITORS HERALD-I find the following
in my diary: The summer of 1879 was
extremely mild, and moist, heavy, wet
fogs and dsws nearly every night. On
the 18th of October it rained about one
inch, and brought up the grass. On the
9th of November it rained again inces.
sanity for thirteen hours; three inches
fell. On the Both of November it rained
one-fourth of an inch, and on the 9Th of
December it rained one-ffth Of an inch.
On the 10Th of December to the 21st it
rained over four inches; on the 26th to
2Sth of December 1t raiped one and
one-half inches. On the 9Th Of January
it rained, amount not gwen. On the
26th of January it rained and cleared at
night, and on the 9th it commenced to
rain ct IL O'Clock and rained till in the
afternoon; then it showed quite heavy
for half an hour, large fakes that covered
the ground, but soon melted amount of
rainfall not given. On the 9th of January
it rained three-fourths of an inch, and on
the 21st it rained very cold rain; about
half an inch fell. To this date the rain
fall was seventeen and one-half inches.
It rained again on the 22d and 23d of
February, one inch on the 9Th of March
it rained shower, and on the 10th and
18th it rained, amount not given and on
the 25th it rained one inch. On the I'd
of April it commenced again, and rained
at intervals to the 5th; over two inches
fell. 1t rained April 18th, 14th, 18th,
10Th and 18th over one inch on the 21st
of April it rained all the afternoon and
nearly all night inches fell. There
was more rain pfter this, but the amount
was not noted. This will show an extra
ordinary wet winter for commencement
of heavy rain of one inch on the 18th
of October. The rain-gauge kept in Sac
ramento gave threefourths of an inch
on the 18th of October of that year. The
rain-gauge kept in Sacramento by Drs
Logan and Hatch gave the rain
fail for October in 1S49 at
IL inches and for the season 36 inches ;
For October, 1854, one inch, for the sea-
son, 1882 inches; October, 1858, 16
inches for the season, 8 for October; 1860,
Is inches for the season, for October;
1869, 1877 inches for the season, 2 for
October; 1874, % inches for the season,
22 for October; 1875, 9 inches for the
season, pa for October; 1879, 26 inches
for the season, for October; 1882, over
IS inches for the season, 21a for October.
Your readers will perceive by these fig-
ures that it is not an uncommon thing to
have heavy rains in October, and that
this ought to do sway with the oft re-
peated assertion that early rains are
indicative of dry season. Although this
has been much the heaviest rainfall OF
any for forty years in October, it is GER
taiply no more strange than to have an
unusually heavy fall in other months, as
we had some years ago, when over forty
two inches fell for the season. expect
this to be very wet winter, and that it
is likely to rain every month till April or
May, as the past summer has been very
like the summer of 1879, when it rained
very often, although not an unusual
amount fell for the season.
Everything shows that the currents Of
moist atmosphere have changed from
what they were twenty years ago, as now
We get much of our rains from down the
southern coast in place of the upper
coast as formerly, when we never ex-
pected rain until three to five days after
it commenced to rain up the coast.
J. W. PoTTs.