The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-23
APRIL IS DRY AND HOT.
The Weather n ReeOrd-Breaker in
Drought and Heat.

This month so far has been an April
record breaker. both in temperature and
rain. Up to last night less than 1-6 of an
an inch Of rain had fallen. With the ex-
ception of slight sprinkle. hardly enough
to be appreciable. there has been no rain
forsthree weeks. Unless there is a break
in the dry spell within the next week April
Will go on record as next to the dryest
since the weather bureau was established
here.
With the drought the temperature has
been unusually high. Mercury went up to
- degrees yesterday and the. day before.
and broke the record for April. The high
est temperature for April recorded at the
weather bureau up to this year is 50 de-
grees.
The drought is affecting crops all over
the country. Since the beginning Of the
season. as deduced from the bulletins is
sued by the Georgia section of the climate
and crop service of the weather bureau,
II viii be seen that up to the 18th, while
the season was slightly backward. it was
more promising than at the same period in
1895. Vegetation of all kinds was growing
rapidly after the retarding influence which
occurred during the first of the month.
The bulk of the corn crop and considera-
bic cotton was planted.
The excessively warm weather of the
past week, accompanied by the almost en-
tire absence of rain, has been injurious
Corn is coming up with good stands, but
cient moisture to terminate the seed.
Inquiry at the weather bureau shows the
average April rainfall for twenty-five
years to have been $50 inches. The least
fall in any April since the establishment
of the bureau was .16 inch In 1882, but this
amount was in light sprinkles, which fell
on eleven days during the month. During
this month but II inch has fallen so far
of which .16 inch fell on the I'd, and with
the exception of light sprinkle on the 9Th,
hardly perceptible. the month is one of
unusual drought.
The cool weather about the first of April
was not unusual The records for the past
five or six years show that frosts have
occurred as late as April Is. None occurred
in 1893, but April 8, 1891, a killing frost
April T. 1895, there was a light frost in
this vicinity, with temperature Of 43 de-
grees; April this year heavy frost oc-
CURED, with temperature Of AZ degrees.
The last ten days, however. show that
the weather has been abnormally warm
the maximum temperature ranging from
"a degrees to 80 degrees, with daily ex-
cess from degrees to 10 degrees in the
mean temperature for the day. The max
imum temperature Of 80 degrees, recorded
on April p and %, broke the record for
station, the previous highest record be-
ing 81 degrees; the highest recorded in
April, 1895, was SO degrees
There has been but slight change in the
atmospheric movement over this section
during the last two weeks, the area OF
high barometric pressure having remain
ed almost stationary over the east Gulf
and South Atlantic coast states, causing
continued warm weather and southerlv
winds, which direction has been the pre-
vailing one for this month in previous
years. This condition has acted as a bar
rier to the rain areas which have crossed
the country moving from Texas thence
northeastward, through the great CEN
tral valleys to the middle and upper At
lantic coasts, causing at times light
sprinkles as far south as Northern Geor-
gia.
The showers which fell asst night and
between midnight and o'clock this MORN
ing, while not SUFFICIENT to do much eood
10 the crops, cooled the atmosphere and
i lSasi.d the dust in the streets. which has
much travel. 1t will take a heavy rain
to get into the soil. The indications at
midnight were that the showers would
continue to-day -