Los Angeles herald., 1890-11-17
THE WEATHER.
Does the Dry Spell Mean
Anything?
Lieutenant John r. Finley's
View of the Matter.
The Japan Current the Cause Of the
Present DrOuth.
Southern California Is Not Necessarily
Linked with the Great Northern Cit
rus Belt as to It's Rainfall.


A San Francisco paper publishes the
following views from Lieutenant John
r. Finley, U. S. signal service officer at
San Francisco:
''The most striking feature of the
weather for the month of October has
been the marked deficiency in rainfall
throughout the Pacific coast states.
"The oldest inhabitant does not re-
member a drier fall than the present.
That of 1871 was remarkably Cry sea-
son. Only .07 of an inch of rain fell that
October, and an inch or more in No
vember. The fall of 1887 was exception
ally dry, there being no rainfall in Oc-
tober, and not more than .03 of an inch
at most fell before the middle of No.
vember. Last year there was an exces-
sive rainfall in October, though the first
half of November was as dry and mild
as is the case this year. In October of
1889 the rain began on the 18th and con-
tinued with but two exceptions-O
ber 10Th and 24th-until the last day Of
the month. During that period there
was nearly $50 inches of rain, the daily
average being so of an inch. The same
cloudless skies and warm sunny days
that the Sacramento valley is enjoying
day of November and continued until
thanksgiving night.
"The cause of this decrease in precipi-
tation this year is to be found in the
falling off in the number of storms
which have entered the northern Pacific
coast from the Japan current, and
more especially to the fact that these
storms have passed eastward at higher
latitude than in previous years. The
extraordinary rainfall in October of
1889 was due to the extreme southerly
position of the rain paths. The storm
paths this year took more northerly
direction, passing eastward through
British Columbia and Canada. The
amount and distribution of rainfall de-
pendent upon the latitude of the storms
from the Japan current, is one of the
most important features of Pacific coast
weather.
''From October 10Th to November
18th, last year, the temperature was
about an average of ten degrees lower
than for the corresponding period this
year. The highest maximum tempera-
ture in that period last year was on
November 4th, when the mercury got
its back up as high as II degrees. The
lowest minimum temperature was
Since the middle of last month the high
est maximum temperature reached was
83 degrees the lowest minimum, 48.
''It is worthy of note that in the sea-
sons of 1871-72 and 1S79-SO, the falls of
which were noted for their dryness, the.
rainfall was nearly up to or beyond the
average. The average rainfall for the
past forty seasons has been 1916 inches.
In 1912 the rainfall was 81 As inches,
and in 1S79-SO, 27.61 inches.
"sThe indications are, that the rainfall
of this season will not fall much, if any,
below the average, and from the fact
that the Japan storm current is gradu-
ally working its way south there is every
reason to believe that the rain will soon
be with u.s."
OF course all the above refers to the
central and northern part of the state.
1t does not necessarily refer to Southern
California at all. The only element in
it that is connected with this section is
the Japan current. That affects more
or less all parts of the coast. The
season has been dry all over the coast
this fall, and therefore the working OF a
law more or less applicable to the whole
coast is indicated.
conditions, the following table, covering
period of nearly twenty years, is sub.
mitted, giving the rainfall by seasons, in
inches, in Los Angeles city: 1894,
PATS; 1874-75, 21.67; 1875-76, 26.47;
I876-77, 5.2S; 1877-7S, 21.26; 1S78-79,
1135; 1S79-SO, 2O34 18S0-S1. 1918;
1882, 1040; 1928, 11.75; 1883-S4,
1922; 1SS4-S5, 9.25; 1SS5-S6, 22.5S;
1886-87, 1875; 18S7-SS, 14.01 1888-80,
1925; lSS9-9O, 34S4. The average for
seventeen years is 1925 inches per sea-
son. Now let us see when the rains be-
gin here. For twelve years the dates of
the first rains are December %, Octo-
ber 12, October 8, October %, Octo-
ber l, October 4, October 8, October
16, October 10, September 26, October
II, August 81. With rare exceptions
the rains falling before November have
been of little significance. The rain of
August 81, 1889, was abnormal. 1t
amounted to over half an inch and is
without parallel in our records. In
fourteen years the rains of September
have been of no value. In only four of
them was there any rain, and in none
of these did there one-fifth of an inch
been dry; but in only two of them did
these an inch and half fell, and
in the other, that is last year,
the downpour was an abnormal one
of very nearly seven inches.
The past September and October were
quite up to the average, if October
year ago be omitted from the calcula-
ton. Taking up November, it will be
found that in Ii years two have been alb
solutely rainless, and about half Of
them produced full inch or more. OF
rain. The average for the 13 years is
one inch and half. Five and half
inches is the maximum for the
month. In the season of 1884
there was a heavy rainfall in October,
none in November, but the season was
the wettest on record except one, the
total being 1922 inches.
In 1856 there was little rain in Oc-