Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1898-07-21

i brief report on the temperature
ard rainfall and some other climatic
! features Of the island Of Cuba, with a
note on the weather OF Manila, has
! been prepared, under direction of
Prof. Willis L. Moore, chief OF the
! weather bureau, by DR.. ". T. r.
Phillips. The information is of spe-
ciai interest at this time, when The at
! tentiOn Of the entire country is CEN
! tered on the military operations now
j being conducted in Cuba and the Phi
i lippine islands The many reports
! which have gained circulation in re-
gard to the disastrous effects of the
climate where our troops are now
| operating have created much uneasi-
ness among those who have friends
and relatives at the front. and many
inquiries regarding the prevailing eli
matte features Of Cuba and the Phil
! lppine Islands have come to the at
tention of this office.
| While authentic meteorological in
formation for the various provinces of
Cuba is very scant, systematic obser-
VatiOns have been carried on at Bel
en- college, Havana, since 1859. This,
the most important meteorological
series, together with other fragmen-
tary records, furnishes sufficient data
to form a fairly accurate estimation Of
the general climatic features of the
! island, while temperature and rainfall
records at several points in the United
States have been introduced for the
: purpose Of comparison and to assist in
forming an intelligent opinion as to
its climatology.
Temperature-The mean annual
temperature at Havana may be stated
in round numbers as II degrees, and
the average summer temperature in
Guiding June, July and August, is 80
degrees, while that of New Orleans for
the same months is ST. degrees.
! The warmest month at Havana is
! July with an average of S2.4 degrees,
and .he highest temperature recorded
! from 1888 to 1897 was 100. 6 degrees in
July, 1891, and the lowest was 1876
/ degrees in February, 1896. At Wash
/ ingtOn the highest temperature re-
! corded is 104 degrees and at Milwau-
! kee 102 degrees. At Santiago, lOcat-
! ed on the extreme southeast coast, and
now occupied by the United States
forces, the temperature is apparently
| higher than on the northern and
western coasts, and from the meager
data available appears to be about
, 80 degrees, with the average differ
| ence between the warmest and cold
! est months of about degrees. It
may be stated generally that, while
the Individual monthly temperatures
depart but little from their normaIs,
! sudden variations in the temperature
of the day are not unusual or I'M
/ known. Humboldt gives an instance
of the fall of the thermometer in the
! shade in the space of three hours from
/ 50 degrees to "A degrees, certainly a
! very considerable fall for the tropics
and one that occurring on q summer
/ day even in the temperature ATTITUDES
would impress itself quite forcibly.
! Rainfall-The average rainfall at
! Havana is 51.73 inches. and is less
than that at New Orleans, which is
! 81 inches. The year with regard
/ to rainfall is divided into the rainy
! season, which extends from Nav to
/ October and the dry season. which
! includes the remaining months At
! Havana the rainy season does not be-
gin till the latter part of May, so that
only five months are included in the
rainy season at that point. The
! average amount falling from the
months Of June to October is 32.37
! inches, or SO per cent. of the annual
t fall. At New Orleans during the
! same months the average amount is
27.00 inches and for WASHINGTON
24.10 inches. The average rainfall
at Havana by months for 80 years is
as follows: January 2.71 inches, Feb
r'uary 2.27, March 1S3, April 2.S3,
May 4.47, June 7.16, July sos, Au-
I gust 6.02, September Ell, October
7.42, November sos and December
2.15 yearly, 81. 70. 1t will be seen
! from the above that while there, is a
marked contrast between the rainy
and dry seasons with regard to the
average rainfall a fair amount of rain
! falls throughout the entire year.
June and October on an average show
the greatest rainfall, 7.16 and 7.42
respectively. At New Orleans the
greatest rainfall occurs in June and
judy, $40 and $50, while in Milwau-
! kee June has the greatest average
rainfall, 4.OS, considerably more than
half as much as falls at Havana dur
| ing the wettest month of the rainy
| season.
! Rainy days:-The number of days
upon which rain falls is, upon the
whole, considerable-about one day
out of three at Havana. The general
character Of the rainfall appears to BE-
! heavy downpours of short duration,
and this is particularly the case dur
ing the summer months, or the rainy
season.
Notwithstanding the frequency Of
rain during the summer months, they
do not present the greatest number Of
cloudy days. The rains, although
cOpious. are of short duration, and
those days on which showers do fall
are, in general. perfectly cloud1ess.
It may almost be said that during
these months no clouds are to be seen
in the atmosphere, except while the
showers are falling, while in other
months cloudy days sometimes occur
without rain. .Thunderstorms. with
much electrical display, are of fire.
I