Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-11-11
DISTINCTION FOR BURLINGTON
It Has Lowest Average Rain
fall in New England.
wettest Piace II the Ton Of Mount
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. of Weather
Records Extending Over
Period of 1876 Years.

rainfall which has just been published in
a pamphlet of about 300 pages. nearly all
of which consists of tables Of figures,
seemingly as dry as tables of logarithms.
But for the weatherwse, It Is proved be-
yond doubt that there have been as re-
markable phenomena In way of rainfall
in the past as can be remembered by the
Oldest inhabtant now living.
This collection by Mr.. Goodnough is ex-
tremely large and valuable, WRITES r. L..
Bridgman In the Boston Transcript II
contains statistics from numerous stations
in each of the New England States and
from the eastern border Of New York.
Earliest Of all the records is that which
was begun in August. 17i9, by Professor
John Winthrop of Harvard College. In
later years there has been an abundance
Of material. From the mass of figures
some most interesting deductions have
been drawn. Professor Winthrops OBJ
servations were begun during severe
drouth and were uninterrupted till the day
of the battle of Lexington. in 1775, Dur
ing those IS years the average rainfall
was smaller than in periods Of the same
length in recent years, thus lending small
encouragement to those who argue that
our annual precipitation Is declining and
that the earth will ultimately perish from
drouth. II that prediction is we'll found
ed, the figures must have a longer base
line than this
DIFFERENCES OF RAINFALL.
The Rev. Jonathan French Of Andover
kept valuable records for rainfall for sew
eral years and it is found that possibly
the greatest freshet ever recorded in the
Merrimac river occurred in October, 17S5.
For the months of September and October
In that year the aggregate rainfall re-
corded was 1875 inches. But the very next
year. by the same record, the fall for
September was only 54 inches and for
october it was down to just two inches.
So there were ups and downs close to-
gether then the same as now.
| There is n map Of New England show
ing lines of equal rainfall based mainly
on records covering 40 years. For the
uniformed reader this Is full of sur
prises for there are great differences in
TIE annual fall at different stations with
In the six States. For instance. by far the
wettest place in New England is the top
OF Mount Washington. Continuous obser-
vations made there from 1871 to 1857 show
/
| that period was 49, SO inches. On the other
hand, the lowest average in New England
is that at Burlington, VT, where the aver
age for a very long period has been only
20 inches
mountainous regions have the largest
rainfall and the lines Of the map in the
Berkshire district in Massachusetts bring
1t out strongly. In the Catskil region
which shows at the side of the map, there
Is an average of So inches and that curve
just crosses the Hudson river a trife.
The 5O-inch curve swings over into Con-
necticut, The 4S-inch crosses the north
west corner of Connecticut turns north
to western Hampden ounty and rises to
n point north OF Northampton, doubtless
influenced by Mount Tom. The 46-inch
line runs as far north as Adams along the
crest of the Hoosac mountains and that is
the figure for the most Of the Connecticut
valley in this State. Further north the
average declines till the minimum is
reached along the shores Of Lake Cham
| plain.
REACHES NORTH INTO VERMONT.
The line Of AZ inches begins Just south
of Cape Ann and runs in an almos,
straight course westerly to the valley
OF the Connecticut river. where /,
makes a great bend to the north into
Vermont. The 4o-inch line barely cuts
across the upper corner of Massachu.
sets at the mouth Of the Merrmac river
and runs straight west across lower
New Hampshire till near Peterboro
where 1t makes dip to the south and
comes we'll down into Winchendon ir
this State.
Along the Maine coast the fall i,
heavier than further inland. It runs AZ
a and 4G against a minimum Of Ss fur.
ther inland and at the mountains in the
vicinity OF Bar Harbor 1t reaches IS
Rangely lake region shows 70 and %.
Mr.. Goodnough has prepared tables
showing the distribution of the rainfall
by months In the period of 1886 to 1910
in the three large districts of northern
New England-the upper Merrimacl
valley, the upper Connecticut and LAX,
Champlain-the maximum rainfall wa.
In August and the minimum in April
whereas at the Sudbury station of tn,
Boston water works the maximum wa,
in March and the minimum in June. I,
June and July the fall at the Sudbur,
station was much less than in the othe,
valleys. The point is brought out tina
during the period OF the growing n
the crops there are no great differences
; in the monthly rainfall throughout tn,
principal valleys of central and norther,
. New England. so that as far as agricul
tural operations are concerned, neithe
section has any natural advantage owe
the other In respect OF the amount q
distribution of the rainfall" But durtn,
the autumn and winter the fall on tn
t Sudbury watershed Is so much NOR
r than in the northern valleys that 1
A makes n material difference In comput
: Ing water to be stored for future con
!. sumption.
REGARDING DRY SPELLS.
Variations of annual rainfall are stud
- led carefully and great differences ar
= brought out between different wears
:, There has been plotted a diagram show
ing the average rainfall in eastern Mas
sachusetts from l749 to 1918. In l7S5 tn
line (Which is a three year average, rim
almost up to the mark for 60 inches
, or far IN excess OF anything since then
" So our wetness this summer is nv NJ
=, means unprecedented The only an
- proxmation Of 1888 was in 1890. when tn
. curve rises to about "a inches
. on the other hand. for dry vears T.
y 1852 the curve drops down to the lin
= OF so inches. which is. comparative,,
far below anything IN way of drout
which we have seen since then. In ia
the line dropped almost to "a and II ac
tually touched that line in 1s22 VIVA
|