Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1891-12-01
sftifTiN0 or THE SEASONS.


Heat and Cold ~ EVER.
Are the seasons chang;nazv -.
osrgI- Dunn, echoing the query. .welI
e !" the amount Of heat and cold re'
eeised and distributed over this MARI "a
.he earlh cannot say that there 4 varv
'uuch ainerence. The seasons NAV varv
somewhat, but when the end 81 the w,
comes around, and we begin to figure al
proiit and loss Of heat and cold. Il Z ~,
sften that they do not counferbaIarcs
saeh other or come close to it. How do
! determine on the loss Of heat and cold,
wen, by taking the means Of each
month"; temperature for q great MANI
years and finding normal: then n,
each day and each month calculations
are made TO show whether the heat -.
ceived has been deficient or in excas.
mus we are enabled to give the changes
IN seasons For instance, the ANIMAL
mean temperature for this city is exact
y ou.i degs. During 1888 there was
deficiency of 49, degs. mean tempera-
ture, or about II degs. for each day. and
every one knows the winter was mild
This year there was an excess still great
er, ana It amounts TO nearly dogs. for
each day. By comparing records for
twenty years past l find the same excess
or deficiency taking place.
The cold snaps during the mast win.
ter were of short duration, but they
were sufficiently severe to overcome the
excess OF heat gained for ten or fifteen
days, and it often occurs that the tenn
perature win run down to 8 or 10 degs,
above zero and remain there long enough
Tor solid ice TO form. Should that occur
early in the season and ice remain on the
ground. people would say it was a cold
winter, but no matter how cold it NAV
be, II there Is no ice or snow, then the
old cry is heard about our grandfather's
days. Now the seasons show little or no
change, except that the cold spells are
shorter, more severe and come later in
the season, thus admitting a greater
number of days of moderate cold. The
same applies to the summer months. So
that makes it imperative for people who
balance heat and cold by feeling or men,
DRY to change their methods. The high
est mean annual temperature for the
past nineteen years is 52.9 and the lowest
4s.6, making range of only 4.3. This
fully verifies the statement that the same
amount of heat and cold is received, and
that If any change has taken place it
must be at irregular intervals"
do we receive our usual contribu-
tions of snow?'
"For the year 1888 there was a trife
short of four feet. and for 1889 to date
two feet seven inches. This shows a ma
terial shortage of snow in comparison
with previous years and decided in
crease in rainfall"
sit is said that Professor TyndaIl and
others ascribe the abundance of rain and
warm weather this season to a change In
in the course of the Gulf Stream, which
brings its current nearer to our coast
Do you consider such to be the case."
NO. In the first place, there is moth
! ing on record to show that there has
been any change, except of a temporary
nature, in the course of the stream, anc
then the only information is based on 8
report from one captain, who, whils
crossing the Gulf Stream near latitude 3,
dogs, found the temperature of tn,
water in one place, that was about twenty
miles vest of the stream, to be the sam,
temperature as that noted while in tn,
stream center. Even should there be /;
change and the warm current run 10'
miles nearer our coast, it would not ma
terially change our climate only at sucl
times as the wind would blow ON shor
for an indefinite period, as all the storm
pass from our shores to the northeast
and the prevailing wind blowing from
the southwest would of itself dispose o
the theory of any change in the Gull
Stream as affecting our climate.
1.-THE same weather conditions that ex
list in this section prevail everywher
east of the Mississippi, ane can readil,
be ascribed to the unusual number o
storms crossing from the southwest owe
the lakes into Canada, cutting off coll
waves and allowing high barometri
pressures to hold full sway over tn
southern states, both forces tending t
increase the heat all along the line fror
the Mississippi to the Atlantic and fror
the Gulf of Mexico to tke lakes. TIL
mild climate of the British Isles is just
ly attributed to the Gulf Stream; Their
the prevailing winds are from the ocear
from west to east, carrying with ther
the warm, moist atmosphere created b
the stream. Now our prevailing wind
are off shore and the Gulf Stream ca
never produce such an effect on this sid
of the ocean until the earth rotates i
the opposite direction and our storm
come from the east instead of the west
/ Eanla