Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1898-02-03
Madison, February l.


January, 1898, will go down III HIS
to,v as a month of the heaviest SLOW
etorms Wisconsin has experience
in q dozen or more years. In loooi o'
OF the Washburn observatory SNOW
that the total registered fall was 00'1
ircbae These figures do not represent
the exact fall, however, because uui ins
the two billiards on January zz-zo anu
January Is the heavy wind pre'0nIeu
+ba snow from properly falling lhIo inc
ordino instrument. Perhaps a1ter
+be second blizzard there "dS lu,iS
.thrae feet of snow on the level. Inc
e+ronq wind. however, tossed much ol
+bio into huge drifts anywhere from
four to six feet in depth. The FARMERS
generally are jubilant over the eAc09-
give snow fall for it means lhcle d<'ou
fertility of their land and a Dig crop
of winter wheat. Prof W. A. henry
dean of the college of agriculture III
state university, says that the ldise
volume of snow now on the grouhu
xrri1I he Of inestimable value to crops
and timber. It is especially opportuhe
after the prolonged dry spell last Iail
which in much of Wisconsin preVehCeo
the usual seasons ploWlng. Inc
warmth of the ground produces a grad
nal melting of the snow thus allowing
the moisture to perculate into the SOIL.
If this process is prolonged and the re-
mainder Of the snow is largely melted
bv the sun in the spring, most OF Cne
contained moisture will OF course SCI
tie into the ground. Prof Henry Dc
lieves that periods of wet and cry sea
sons come in cycles of years and that
we are Just now emerging from dry
into a wet cycle. AS a result or the
scantv precipitation of the last few
years. says Prof. Henry, the university
grounds lost over 1000 trees, the capt.
toll mark several hundred and the state
at large millions. Prof. Henry belleVes
that this wholesale demise among trees
uill now cease. One of the fertilizlng
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 II.
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. en- the latter day.
The amount of snow en- the ground at
sunset on January IS was 2 inches.
On January 10 ard 90 "a inches OF
snow fell. On January % the frst
blizzard of the month arrived and 80
riches of snow fell. The observatory
records of January % contain the fol-
lowing: Storm just passed. 1t was
a typical blizzard and snow measure
ments are UNRELIABLE On January IS
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 30.25
inches. The coolest day was January
2S when the minimum regist tation of
the thermometer was degrees below
zero and the warmest January Z 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 the
weather for the month was quite mild.
for 7 days only was the mercury be-
low zero. The maximum temperature
was on the first day, 81 degrees, the
minimum on Jan. %, % below. jan
nary, 1896, like that of January 1895,
had but little snow, the total precipi-
tation being As inches, while that Of
the same month in 1895 was 2,22. But
4 days were clear in January 1896 and
7 in 1895. The maximum temperature
in January, 1896, was SO degrees; the
minimum on January 4, being Is de-
grees below. The table of temperatures
as recorded at Washburn observatory
for January for the past three years
follows:
Date 1896 1897 1898
max min max min max min
1 ..........30 s 54 AZ IA