The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1898-01-07
Comparison of Puget Sound Rainfall.

A viz oaoI0iH otoe vi Tie olympic
mountains, is one of the wettest places
on Puget Sound proper. From Pysht
west to Neah bay and south along the
coast there is much greater rainfall.
at Neah bay up to 1891 averaging
1929 inches. But on Puget Sound
proper it is much less. At the same
date at Seattle it was given as 5O.O3,
at Tacoma 1886, Olympia 560S, Port
Townsend 1947, Bellingham bay 80 sc
and Vashon island Alb, but at I'm
ION City the average for the past four
years, since the weather burean has
had a station here, has been 81. SO,
ranging from 65.36 in 1895 to 94.31 in
1886. The number of rainy days in
lS96.was 127, in 1897 134. In 1897
the number of cloudy days was 1OS, of
part cloudy 129, of clear 12S. In
1896 there were SO cloudy. 133 part
cloudy, and 139 clear days. Much
more than half the rain of 1897 has
fallen in November and December,
1868 inches having fallen during
those two moths and only 1851 dur
ing all the other ten months. Deem
Der has been the wettest month of
the four years, 1920 inches having
fallen; the next wettest was January.
1896, which had over twenty inches.
No other November and December
has shown such a proportion of the
rain OF the year, those OF 1896 giving
1896 out of 94.31, and those of 1894
only 1885 out of 1857. A compari-
son of the rainfall of the different
years shows a great range in different
months. In January it has ranged
from $50 inches in 1897 to 22.4O in
1896; in February from 400 in 1895
to 1906 in 1894; in March from 2.90
in 1896 to 1898 in 1894; in April
from 2.25 in 1897 to 1855 in 1895; in
May from 1.16 in 1897 to 7.34 in 1895 :;
in June from 023 in 1895 to 3.O2 in
1894; in July from 90 in 1896, the
only month in the four years in which
rain has not fallen, to LOS in 1897;
In August from OO5 in 1894 to 0S8 in
1896; in September from 120 in 1S9 5
to 5.32 in 1894 in October from 027
in 1895 to 10.47 in 1894 in November
from 6.92 in 1895 to 194l in 1897; in
December from 5.57 in 1894 to 1920
in 1897. Thus it will be seen that We
can obtain but little idea of the
amount of rain that will fall in any
month OF next year from examining
the amount that has fallen in the
same month in any other year.
A comparison, however, Of the six
months from April to September
shows only range from 1864 in 1897
to 1S.49 in 1896. A comparison Of
these same months with the rainfall
for the same months in other states
shows that Puget sound has great
advantage over many wien we most
need dry weather. 1t is not possible
to compare as yet all of the winter
months because the reports of the
weather bureau for the United States
for December will probably not be
published for three or four months.
The weather bureau gives a special
table for excessive precipitation, which
is ten inches or over in any month,
two and half inches in a day, and
an inch in an hour, During the above
six months of 1897 not single place
in Washington is included in this
monthly or hourly table, and only one
place, Tatoosh island, in the excessive
daily. This was in April. In April
in other states only one, Louisiana,
has five stations where the monthly
rainfall was excessive, and there were
only nine in all of the states, but
Louisiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Miss
ouri, Iowa, Ge orgia, Nebraska, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and
Texas come under the list with from
five to twenty stations each of excess
i've daily precipitation. Hopeville, Ia,
had seven inches, and Abbeville, La,
$40 inches in day, and Jupiter, Fla,
345 in an hour.
May gives only three stations with
excessive monthly rainfall, but Mis-
souri,, New Jersey, Pennsylyania and
Texas came under the head OF exces-
sive daily, with from five to thirteen
stations each, Boca Ration in Florida
having 9.S5 in a day, and Gail, Texas,
4.5O, and City Point, Wis, 4.4O in an
hour
June gives eight places in all the
states with excessive monthly, Mis-
souri, having the most. but Florida,
Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana,
Iowa, Massachusetts,, Minnesota, Ne
braska, New Hampshire, North Caro-
lima, Pennsylvania and Texas are IN
the list of excessive daily, with from
five to twenty signal stations each.