The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-02-13
FAR BELOW ZERO.
New Cold Weather Record Is
Made Today.
Government Thermometer Reg
listers % Degrees Below.
LOWER ON THE LEVEL.
At Some Places 81 Was the Mark
Reached.
Silver Lake Reports Tempera-
ture 20 Below Zero.

The low temperature readings Tor the
entire season were broken this morning
when the government thermometer reg
istered at o'clock 22.5 below zero rms
is within two and fve-tenths of the rec
ord established for low temperatures at
the local United States weather bureau
office on the 18th of February, 1899.
Barring this reading the weather regis
tered is the severest in the annals OF
the local weather bureau For contln-
ued low temperatures 1t also probably
establishes a new record. Since Satur-
day the thermometer has failed to
mount above the zero mark 1t is re-
markable coincidence that the present
era of low temperatures comes at al
most identically the same time in Feb
ruary as the era remarked in 1899 for
February u. The two remarkably low
temperatures of 1899 and 1905 came
within twenty-four hours of each other
Barring the temperature readings for
today the mean thus far for the month
of February as recorded at the local
weather bureau is 5.S above or about
rs degrees below the normal mean tenn
perature for the month.
Compared with the other low tenn
perature readings thus far for the sea-
son: January ;. Is below; January 25,
at 8 O'Clock a. m, Is below; February 2,
at o'clock a. M, IS below; February
4, at o'clock a. m, 13 degrees below.
For Those who are shivering it is
probably interesting to note that on
January % the thermometer reached
the sultry temperature of As above.
The absence of a heavy wind during
the lowest temperatures made the ex-
treme cold endurable. The wind ranged
along between II and miles per hour
for the most part of yesterday and this
morning. Today the wind veered
around from the northwest to the west
A high wind has almost without excep-
ton accompanied the other low tenn
peratures recorded this season and this
factor contributed largely in the belief
that the weather was not as severe this
morning as the other days noted.
Beginning with 2 o'clock Of Saturday
the thermometer commenced to slope
down towards zero and by early Sun
day morning II degrees below was reg
istered. This reading remained uniform
until O'Clock Sunday morning when it
warmed up lowering about 10 degrees
below until 1 o'clock when 8 degrees
below was registered. This was the
highest the thermometer reached for
the day, remaining at the figure until
O'Clock. At o'clock the thermOme-
II below. At o'clock the lowest which
thermometer stood at 16 below
The mercury was lower on the street
level this morning, the readings being
as low as 27 below zero.
A telephone message received this
morning from Silver Lake stated that
% below was registered there this
morning at O'Clock. This is the coolest
with one exception since the year Of
1879.
District Direction Jennings of the To-
cal weather bureau stated this morn
ing that in his estimation the thermOm-
eter would manage to get back to the
zero mark during the course of the day.
Weather Director Jennings thermom-
eter out at his home in Potwin stood
at 30.5 this morning at about o'clock
This is a standard thermometer. Other
thermometers over town registered all
the way from 20 to So degrees below.
The cold weather made harvest of
work for the plumbers. All of the
plumbing shops in town were rushed
to the limit to fill the frantic orders of
parties who had frozen pipes in the
house and were in imminent danger of
being flooded. The plumbers state with
out exception that the reports which
inc were in excess of anything which
they have experienced this year. Num-
erous instances were recorded of flooded
rooms and houses. At the office of the
Topeka Water company similar condi-
tions existed. From early this morning
up until this afternoon the calls report
ing frozen water pipes and meters ran
up beyond any computation.
The following are the hourly tempera-
ture readings for today:
rrTr r~a1- r@-1~