Evening star., 1902-08-23
Why the Summer Has Seemed
Unusually Cool.
OFFICIAL FIGURES
MEAN TEMPERATURES FOR SEW
ERAL YEARS.
This Year the Hot Days Have Not
Been Constant Breezes.

ready started a boom for Washington as a
summer resort, so agreeabiy cool has 1t
seemed and so little have they suffered
from the heat. They will be surprised to
learn that it has not in fact been unusually
cool, and the doubter who questions this
sta tement will find that the weather bureau,
with its barometers thermometers, aerom-
eters, seismotraphs and other instruments,
Is against him. Still, Washington is not
bad place to spend the summer, and espe-
cialy if one has nothing else to do but
hunt cool spot and keep cool, the avoca-
tion of most people who go away for the
summer. For thirty-ine years the prognosti
Gators have kept tab on envious rivals and
they are able to show that the average
mean temperature for Washington for July
usually the hottest month, is only Il. Bal
timere is apparently the hottest place on
earth, with a mean average for the same
month of 7S.
Philadelphia has a record of &c. Norfolk,
1S5. and New York 735. Those who go to
Atlantic City for the cool sea breeZes pay
a good deal for a reduction of D degrees
below Washington, for that is what they
get, Atlantic City showing average for
the month of July for thirty-one years of
r.
Secret of the Cool Weather.
Anyhow. it has seemed cool, persists the
doubter, and 50 it has and so it often will.
One thing may be stated a fact to be
remembered, it is not often unpleasantly
warm in Washington, and when it is 1t is
warm every place else. And when it is or
seems cool in Washington the whole coun-
try is talking about the Unusually cool
weather"
The secret about the apparently cool sum-
mers is that the hot days do not bunch
their hits There is breathing spell in be-
tween when nature gets time to recuperate
I rnCf of iC hot fharn hlC
been but one degree difference in favor of
the summer of 1862 over the average for
thirty-one years. THE consecutive hot
days. said the official in charge of the di-
vision of meteorological records at the
United States weather bureau, exhaust
the nervous energies of the people. They
cannot sleep and cannot recuperate, sun
strokes occur and we hear a great deal
about the hot weather, which doesn't help
matters any. Such continuous warm peri
DDS may occur in summer in which the
mean temperature is below the aVera ge.
Here are the records for July 1901. Last
summer was considered a very warm one,
yet the average mean temperature for the
month was so, compared with record of a
for this year. But going into the figures
more in detail, We find July, 1901, with six
teen days recording a temperature over 90,
compared with eleven days for July of this
year; but last year from the 1st to the 9th
the thermometer ranged from 81 to 102. and
from the 10th to the 25th it registered 30 or
more except on one day This year of the
eleven days above 80 but four were continu-
Gus. The highest figure for July last year
was 1O2 and the highest this year, the 18th.
was so. This explains what 1 say. There
has been no continuous warm weather and
people do not feel the heat
Humidity Below the Average.
The humidity for July this year was
per cent below the average also, though
it has seemed much above and the suppos-
ed numerous rains have served to account
for the supposed low temperature. The
fact is there was not as much moisture in
the air as usual. Other months show the
same comparisons. The average mean
temperature for June this year, called a
very cool month, was ~, but that was eX
actIy the average mean temperature of
June 1901, and June, 1900 And mat
ter of fact the average for the thirty-one
years the department has a record Of is t3
Thes weather thus far in August has been
| subnormal, to use an expression that is
known to scientists. Washinstonans have
| marVeled at the absence of caloric in the
| temperature The oldest inhabitant," who
| Is always with US, has racked his brain to
| find such cool August. Out at the weather
| bureau in NJ street the men who keep tab
| on things have taken pains to go over the
| records and they have found that the sum-
mer as a whole has been something out
| Of the ordinary.
washington has some very hot days"
| continued the official. The highest ever
recorded in any month or any year since the
| records have been kept was in September
| 1881, when the thermometer reached the al
titude of 104 and held for time. The next
| best record was made in July, 1887, when
| 103 was reached. The record of 102 last year
was close to this. These single warm days
| do not disturb humanity much, but they are
recalled as Indicative of a very warm sum
| mer when they may not indicate that all.
| But people in getting an idea of a cool
month compare it with the hottest month or
summer they can recall and thus draw
| wrong conclusions.
'At the same time the average is obtained
| by taking together all the averages for
thirty-one years and dividing the total by
| thirty-one. so that the figures do not prove
| that there have not been warmer nor cooler
summers. The records show that in thirty
| one years the highest average for July has
been eighty-one and the lowest seventy-two.
| This indicates quite range, and 1t also
| shows that the average has been much
| lower than for this year
Warm Weather Not Continuous.
There is another reason also, good ne,
and that is the almost continuous breezes.
| There has never been a summer of record
where the air has been stirred by the light
| breezes as it has been this summer There
| have been constant changes in the course
| of the winds, but they have seldom come
| from the south. This condition of affairs
we offer no explanation for. Some local
| conditions are at the bottom of it. If we
| knew the formula for bringing it about
| every summer We would publish it, but We
| do not make the weather, we simply keep
| a record Of it..
| August thus far has made Washington an
| ideal summer resort. There has been
scarcely night when an extra coverIid
was not agreeable before the dawn of day
| The temperature has been constantly from
| three to four degrees lower than the aver
| age.
| 1t has been a cold month, so to speak
! Ordinarily August is one of the warmes.
months in the year. This year it has
| changed about, and has had some consid-
Grafton for persons who, perforce of cir
| cumstances, are compelled to stay at home
when others are basking in the pleasures of
/ the seashore or mountains
! There are always persons among US VINO
have reasons fer extraordinary weather
| conditions. Some have suggested that the
seismic disturbances at Martinique and
| other parts of -he world We're responsible
| for the peculiar weather that has blessed
/ us. This is not so. At least it is not
known to science if it Is.
There is absolutely no reason why the
| present weather phenomena should or can
| be connected with the volcanic eruptions OF
| few months ago." Prof Hill of the United
States geological survey said to an Eyenins