Los Angeles herald., 1892-01-22
DRY YEAR CROAKERS
They Should Read Last
Years Record.
No Rain Of Account Fell Till
February.
But Then 1t Made Up for Lost
Time.
An Account of the February Downfall.
A Season Somewhat Similar
to this as Regards the
Rainfall.

For the benefit of those people who
are fearful of a dry year the HERALD
prints below some extracts from an ar
ticle which appeared in this paper on
February Oath last year, announcing
the close of a heavy rain.
sit was indeed somewhat damp for a
day or two. The storm is at last well
over, after period of fully nine days.
The week before last many people here
abouts were very blue under the i'm
preston that dry year was as certain
to be the experience of this section as
as the rising OF the sun is certain. Well,
they say on the Ria to, these people
were little bit off. At noon Sunday,
February 18th. the rainfall for the sea
son beginning September, 1890, to that
date was beggarly account of 81
inches all told. There had been only
one day of good rain. I he record was
like this: The last week OF September
developed the first rain OF the season,
few showers of one-tenth of an inch
in all. Two more showers fell on the
9th and 10th of October. The first week
OF November brought two more light
showers, and then there was no
more rain until the month of December
had counted its first first three days.
On the 4th. 9th and 9th of that month
there fell in all about p inch of rain.
The 10th and Goth of the same month
there were moderate rains, and the year
closed with three showery days. The
total for December was 2 80 inches, and
for the season to December 3lst, 2 5S
inches. The whole month of January
gave only OPS inch of rain, and the
month ended with only 2 SO inches for
the season
February opened with rain very
early, 0 SO of an inch on the I'd, and 0 2S
on the Sd. The count for the season
was then AZ inches. On the 9th fell
0.13, bringing the total up to $50
inches. Then came ten days of drought,
with drying north winds; the grass was
short, the barley and wheat plants be-
gan to turn yellow, and many feared a
failure of the crops. They have got
over that. Since Sunday afternoon,
February 18th, there has fallen a total
of 7 IA inches OF rain, swelling the sea-
sons precipitation to 1918 inches, two
thirds OF which belongs to this storm,
and worth more to crops than Is inches
would be falling before the end of De-
cember.
.'The rain of the early part of laat
week fell upon ground very day, and on
mountains where all the natural lake
bowls were empty. In spite of the
downpour OF Sunday night and Monday
a week ago, very little water reached the
watercourses, and one would hardly
know by the rivers that there had been
go much rain. But that heavy fall
soaked the ground to repletion and filled
all the lakelets to the brim. The liberal
rain of Saturday wet the top of the
ground and started all the streams run
ming. Then came the awful rain of Sat
urday night, Sunday and Sunday night,
81 inches on the plains and six to ten
on the mountains. The watersheds of
the rivers are very wide in area, and the
watercourses exceedingly precipitous.
But the Arroyo Seco, for instance, heads
up $50 wiles or more in the mountains.
The Tejunga runs up as far, and the
Los Angeles nearly as tar Sunday aft
ernoon there was very little water in the
rivers, but by morning they were COM
ing down half bank full, and as rapid as
a mill race. Through this city the cur
rent ran perhaps six or eight feet deep
in places and at the rate of fifteen or
twenty miles an hour. In the Arroyo
the depth was less but the rate was
more. The Tejunga runs all of 800 feet
to the mile and there an express train
could not keep pace with the impetuous
torrent -