The Portland daily press., 1896-01-01
Thu STORM.
Facts About Recent Extraordinary
Weather.
SPRING SCENES AND TEMPERA.
TURE In DECEMBER.

A Beautiful Rainbow-GaIe so Miles an
Hour : Excessive Precipitation The
Breakers-Carriage Blown Over-Much
Minor Damage.
The weather during the past two days
has been so beautiful and mild, and so
tickle and fierce, allin such short time
that it is worthy of more than passing
notice.
In the first place it has been extraordi-
nary in respect to warmth during these
last two days, considering the time of
year.
Out on the ocean Monday, as mention
ed in the report of the St. Croix's trial
trip, 1t was warm enough to stand on
deck, while the steamer was rushing at
almost the speed Of railroad train and
yet suffer no Inconvenience il the hands
were bare. The sea was so calm, the air
SO quiet, that fishing vessels and coasters
were becalmed and couldn't reach their
ports.
1t began to cloud up in the afternoon,
and to get misty and drizzly in the early
evening. Long before midnight it was
raining hard and continued to pour in
torrents all night. A fierce wind sprang
up and at 6. so a. M, il reached maxi
mum of fifty miles an hour, blowing
from the southeast A gale anywhere be-
tween forty five and fifty-nine miles an
10 II 70, T
this gale was warm. Had The tempera-
ture been below freezing it would have
deserved the name of hurricane rather
than gale. A freezing wind of only thir-
ty miles an hour is more dangerous to
vessels than warm wind of fifty miles,
such as that Of Monday night
During the twelve hours from p. III.
Monday till a. n. Tuesday, l. "a inches
of water fell. This is more than the rate
of what is called at the weather bureau,
excessive precipitation. That term is ap-
piled if 2 u inhes fall in twenty-four
hours.
This warm downpour was in every re-
spect like spring storm. There certain
ly was little suggestive of winter when
the people got up yesterday morning.
Streets and cutters were flooded and fiow-
ing. Great pools and sheets of water
were in all the depressions of the bare
fields. The air was without trace OF
frost. Where were the cold and snow and
Ice of December? To make the illusion
complete that it was April, not Deem
Der, when the storm suddenly cleared
away at about s. 80 a. H., beautiful
ainbow appeared against the black
clouds of the northern sky, and slowly
developed into perfect arch with one
end resting on Munjoy hill and the other
on Mt. Washington. There is no doubt
that one enawas on Munjoy hill, be
cause Street Superintendent Staples was
on Washington street at just at that time
looking after washout, and he didn't
see the rainbow, because he was undoupt-
edly right in it himself. If he had only
known that fact he might have set his
men to digging and found at last the
fabulous pot of gold.
The rainbow lasted scarcely more than
ten minutes. The black clouds from the
north shrouded it as quickly as if giant
curtain had been drawn.
A brief gusty shower followed and then
the clouds all left the sky as suddenly
as after thunder shower in the sum
mer and veritable summers day, with
cloudless blue sky and balmy air was
vouchsafed us as the LAST day of Deem
ber
Mr.. Staples says that the clearing-off
as viewed from Munjoy hill was very
grand and beautiful. The sky above was
clear and blue, while at the south and
the north there were dense black clouds
and heavy showers close at hand. These
soon disappeared.
The wind veered around from the south
to the west and continued to blow during
the day with a good deal OF ferceness,
though nothing like the southeast gale OF
the morning. Quite a number of Port
land people took advantage of the charm
ing weather to go out TO the Cape shore
to see the breakers Some drove out and
some won't to Willard on the electrics ana
walked the rest of the, way The wine
HAD almost dried up the roads, which
looked as If they had been secured bv
the floods, but in the fields swollen brooks
were rushing and ponds and pools were
shimmering. 1t needed only the notes
Of the bluebird and song sparrow to make
the spring illusion complete.
Of course the breakers were very grand.
and the BEST of it was that they could be
enjoyed because Of the mild temperature
DAMAGE BY THE GALE.
The gale did considerable damage when
at it's height in the morning. One of
the handsome elms on State street in
front Of Charles e. Dols's residence, was
blown down. 1t fell against the house
and broke the balustrade over the front
door.
AT about a. M, as Mr.. T. j. Carey
young man. who is employed at Rines
Bros, was passing near Dr. Ways house
on Cumberland street, limb from one
of the big elms was blown off and struck
him. He was knocked down and sam.