Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1898-02-03
Madison, February /.

Opi ueAi
,,,pary. 1898, will go down in his
90 month of the heaviest snow
r,ns wisconsin has experienced
dozen OF more years. The records
~, the Washburn observatory show
hat the total registered fall was 80. 20
hos These figures do not represent
~. eyact fall, however, because during
~ ,uo blizzards on January 1928 and
January % the heavy wind prevented
,re snow from properly falling into the
-,cording instrument. Perhaps after
-. second blizzard there was fully
,treo feet of snow on the level. The
-.r,ng wind. however tossed much of
,bis into huge drifts anywhere from
four to six feet in depth, The farmers
generally are jubilant over the excess
Give snow fall for it means increased
fertility of their land and a big crop
nj winter wheat Prof. w. A. Henry,
dean of the college of agriculture in
state university, says that the large
volume OF snow now on the ground
will he of inestimable value to crops
and timber. 1t is especially opportune
after the prolonged dry spell last fall
which in much of Wisconsin prevented
he usual seasons pillow ing. The
warmth Of the ground produces a grad
nal melting of the snow thus allowing
the moisture to perculate into the soil.
II this process is prolonged and the re-
mainder Of the snow Is largely melted
bv the sun in the spring, most OF the
contained moisture will of course set
tle into the ground. Prof Henry be-
lieyes that periods of wet and dry sea-
sons come in cycles of years and that
we are just now emerging from dry
into a wet cycle. AS a result Of the
seanty precipitation of the last few
years, says Prof. Henry, the university
grounds lost over 1000 trees, the CAPT
toI park several hundred and the state
at large millions. Prof. Henry believes
that this wholesale demise among trees
will now cease One Of the fertiliZing
elements contained in snow is the
ammonia that it gathers in its fall and
brings to the earth. Besides the heavy
snow fall there was rain on January
II and y.
The observatory records show that
in January six days were clear, six
cloudy, seventeen partly cloudy
and two rainy. Rain fell on
January 18th and 18th, turning into
snow at lis p. m. on the latter day
The amount Of snow on the ground at
sunset on January Is was inches.
On January 10 and 90 "a inches of
snow fell. On January % the first
blizzard of the month arrived and 9.S
inches Of snow fell. The observatory
records of January % contain the fol-
lowing: Storm just passed. 1t was
a typical blizzard and snow measure
meuts are unreliable On January 90
the second blizzard arrived and nine
inches of snow fell. On the last day of
the month .05 of an inch fell, making
the recorded total for the month 80. 25
inches The coolest day was January
Is when the minimum registration of
the thermometer was degrees below
zero and the warmest January when
The maximum registration was 81
above.
Although the cold snap of the last
week in Jan, 1896. was not exceeded
IN severity for nearly 10 years tie
weather for the month was quite mild.
for Z days only was the mercury be-
low zero. The maximum temperature
was on the first day, "a degrees, the
minimum on Jan. rs, % below. jan
nary 1896, like that of January 1895
mad but little snow, the total precipi-
Laton being is inches, while that of
HE same month in 1895 was 90 But
days were clear in January 1896 and
. IN 1895. The maximum temperature
1 January, 1896, was so degrees; the
minimum on January 4, being 10 de-
S.ees below. The table of temperatures
es recorded at Washburn observatory
Tor January for the past three years
follows:
Dlte 1896 1897 1898
ff1ax ,,,sv, 49,, - -,