The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-01-02

Below zero. 10 O'CLOCK. -..-..
II o'clock........
A nor'Wester with sleet and snow
driven 20 to 25 miles an hour, struck
Topeka shortly after 10 o'clock Sun
day and produced the greatest drop
in temperature ever recorded in the
winter season in Kansas. The mild
weather of 10 o'clock with the tenn
perature at As degrees turned to a
blizzard, forcing the mercury down to
l below at o'clock. The fall was
z degrees in eight hours.
At 8 O'Clock this morning a tenn
perature of degrees below zero was
experienced, which is the coldest
reached this winter.
The 25-miIe northwest wind abated
slightly at this hour and the tempera-
ture began a slow rise. The weather
bureau, however, does not look for
the mercury to get far above the zero
mark during the day.
When the cold wave was forecasted
Saturday by the weather observers,
the temperature in Canada was % be-
low. That the cold wind did not
reach Topeka sooner was due to a
low pressure area which developed in
the Dakotas and acted as a blanket.
When that area disappeared, the biz
zard. losing but little of its bitterness
en- route, struck Kansas.
While the. drop in temperature OF
yesterday is considered to have
broken the winter record, there was
one of greater lap but at higher tenn
peratures in 1904. On February 6,
that year, a drop from II to 20, 81
degrees. occurred. That was four de-
grees greater lap than that of yester-
day but that of yesterday was 21 de-
grees below the low mark of the 1904
drop.
Twenty-Five years ago yesterday
noon. the worst storm in the history
Of the state began. With tempera-
lures ranging from to 20 below, the
storm ragged for 80 days. No trains
ran west of Florence on the Santa Fe
and the northern lines were complete
" fled nm and cattle died by thousands
on the western plains. There was
much suffering and several deaths
from cold among the people then living
in dugouts.
through the Panhandle. 1t was de-
yrees below at Amarillo. The lowest
temperature in Oklahoma was de-
grees below at Oklahoma City. In
Kansas the range was from below
at wichita to below at Dodge City.
RIizzards swept Nebraska and Iowa
last night, the wind reaching the We
1ocity of 40 miles an hour at Omaha.
The temperature in Nebraska ranged
from s below at Omaha to 16 below
at North Platte, and in Iowa from 2
below at Des Moines to s below in
+he northwestern part of the state. The
lowest temperature in Missouri was 4
degrees below zero at st. Joseph at z
o'clock.
records of the weather bureau eStab-
ifshed "a years ago. Many colder days
have been but not on the same date.
Todav seems much colder than the
+ernnerature of zero would indicate,
due to the 20 mile WIND blowing from
the northwest.
The forecast reads: Fair tonight and
Tuesday with a continuation of the
cold weather. The mercury is expected
to go to 10 degrees below zero tonight:
The biting wind, however, is expected
70 abate.
Range Cattle Suffering.
ca1ina. Kan, Jan. 2.-The cold wave
cached central and western Kansas
early Sunday, causing drop in tn"
tornperature of so degrees in "a hours,
tba thermometer standing at 5 degrees
teIow zero at o'clock in the afternoon
stronr north wind is bitter cold and
te drifting a light snow before it There
= considerable suffering among range
cattle in the western counties.
Wheat Fields Not Helped.
Abilene. Kan, Jan. 2.-The new year
with a SlOTIn OI uTlNlllR snow and
~anid fall of temperature reaching zero
Wheat fields are dry and bare and are
rot being improved by the storm.
snow Accompanies Freeze.
function City, Kan, Jan. 2-The
thermometer dropped 25 degrees here
from Sunday morning to night, going
t.e1ovv zero. There was high north
tyind all day accompanied by light
snow flurries
Rain Turns to Snow.
Atchison, Kan Jan. A warm rain
,,s~e sunday morning with a tempera-
- ~ about 40, turned to snow later
~ ti,e day The mercury had dropped
-. -. zero by o'clock last night and was
still goine down
rro,fv Degrees Drop i'm Five Hours.
parsnns Kan, Jan. 2.-The ther1noni-
.+er has dropped 40 degrees in five
sso,,re and stands below zero this morn
ing. z1.us ~
.ror7~ cutting wind from the north is
st.seT5ing over Chase county and snow
80 fallen at intervals. From 40 de-
ees ns Sunday morning the temperature
zone down below zero. A light rain
naI IssI here Saturday night and it. togeth-
with the rainfall of the previous