The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1910-05-15


supposition that the Ruget Sound
country is land of excessive rain
fall This is largely due to the fact
that Puget Sound rains ale misty and
gentle-there are seldom any drench-
ing showers pIecipitating something
like two or three inches of water with
in twenty four hours, such as are
common in the east and middle west.
1t is not an extremely rare thing for
some of the eastern states to expert
ence a rainstorm that precipitates
more rain within twenty four hours
than Is precipitated in the entire
wettest month in the year in several
different districts of Puget sound.
And there are at least two Puget
Sound districts in which the inches OF
rainfall in the wettest month OF any
average year are less than the rainfall
of the wettest day in the year in many
states of the union.
There is one other little recognized
fact that gives the Puget Sound coun-
try it's reputation for too much moist
u1e. l refer to the fact that the head
quarters of the U. S. Weather Bureau
district of which Puget Sound is
part is located in Portland, Oregon,
which has much heavier rainfall
than the rainfall of Puget Sound.
The daily press throughout the coun-
try prints the daily weather record
from each district, and the only re-
port sent out from this distI let quotes
the record of Portland, Oregon, for
the entire district. Naturally the un
SOPHISTICATED reader in the innocent
east, south, north or middle west
takes it for granted that this record
is equivalent to that of Puget Sound.
Now the fact is that the average rain
fall of Puget Sound is something like
35 inches annually while that of Port
land, Oregon, is more than 40 inches.
There is still another reason for the
misapprehenSion as to the wetneSS OF
Puget Sound. Some fellow, probably
a newspaper reporter, may ask the
weather man at some big city station
back east "Where is the wettest
station in the weather bureau ser
vice?" and the obliging but laconlc
weather man will reply: 'Why it's
a station over in western Washington,
and it is called Clearwater, which has
an average rainfall of something like
10 inches and in 1899 reached 15l
inches If the questioner were re-
porter he would proceed to write an
article telling about the wettest place
in the states, Clearwater, in the
Puget Sound country, western Wash
ington p"
The point of the joke is that Clear
water isn't in the Puget Sound couE-
try at all. Clearwater is on the ex-
treme western coast on Washington at
the edge of the Pacific ocean and at
the western foot of the high Olym-
pics, in Jefferson county. The rain
clouds form on the ocean and move In
heavy masses toward the Olympic
mountains to carry the living waters
to the thirsty interior of the country.
AS they strike the Olympics at Clear
water they burst through the force OF
the shock, and Clearwater gets Its
celebrated deluge.
A curious condition about the
Clearwater situation is the fact that
Jefferson county has the wettest
weather station in the state OF Wash
intgon on its western border and at
the same time next to the dryest
weather station OF the Puget sound
country at Port Townsend on It's east
ern boundary.
ThQpn 10 hIIt district which