The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-10
'IS FALL OF SNOW
 INCREASING HERE OR DIMINISHING?
Weather Observer Jennings Gives Interesting Obser-
 vations On Dispute

Interesting/facts that shed light on the merits of the belief that snowfall is diminishing, have been compiled by Co-Operative Weather Observer Will liam, Jennings MT. Jennings said to- day:
 There is a popular belief that the amount of snowfall in this portion of\ the country is diminishing Persons of mature years and judgment are ot- ten heard to remark that the winters are less severe, that snow does not come as early and is less in amount than in the early years of their rec o1Iection. This opinion prevails with many people who are careful osperV- CTS, but unless absolutely author1ta- tive records verify this belief, it can not be accepted as proven fact.
 FFUnquestionab1yt there has been in this vicinity marked deficiency in snowfall for the last seven winters There has also been a deficiency in precipitation in general, Cthe total for the year of rain and melted hail, sleet and snow), and an excess in tempera- ture during the same years. snow fall totals are smaller of course by reason of this excess in temperature as we'll as because of the generally light precipitation.
 fNThese facts, however, do not jus- tify the statement that the climate has undergone permanent change in any respect. There have been peri ods of dry years, of warm years, and of years with little snow fall in the past And there have been periods of the opposite extreems It will be noted that the winter of 1S73-4 shows g. total of 96.4 inches, an extraordin- 1 ary amount for Boston. The next | Heaviest amount, 73.1 inches occur red in 1903-4. In February of that year, 1904, there fell 35.7 inches, the l largest amount in any single month at the Boston station in the 43 years | of record. On the other hand the | year of, least snew fall (5.3 inches) was 1875-6, only two years after the l year of maximum. f'In hegard to the early arrival of snow in the fall a generation or two l ago, as compared with recent years, it may be noted that the average am ount up to December 1, in the first 21 years of record, was/ IS in 1 ches, and in the last 22 years of rec ord, 1.9 inches. It is worthy of remark that on October IA. 1913, oc- l cured the earliest snows of more than a, mere trace of record at Boston in 43 years. The only other October in which there was more than a trace of snow was in 1884, the last day of the month.
 t'It should be remembered that the above summary is from the records
 
 Bureau, the measurements being taken on open ground in Boston Common.
 .'Seasonab1e snowfall is greater, and snow is apt to come earlier and stay later in the interior and northern portions Of New England than along 1 the coast. Therefore, those who spent their early years in inland dis tricts should not expect to see fence level snowstorms in the vicinity of Boston as frequently as they remem- Der them to have occurred in cities and towns removed from the coast Then, too, there is a. tendency for the memory to retain and magnify the occurrence of unusual or extra ordinary seasons, which the normal or >spbnorma1 seasons are forgotten.
 'It is safe to assume,s therefore, 1 that nature will, at some time in the future that cannot be predicted, re- store the balance by years of heavy snow fall and heavy general precip- itation, and by years with the tenn perature below the normal, and it will be found that periods of wet years will coincide roughly with periods of cold years.
 '"This assumption is in accord with the general agreement among meteor o1ogists that climate has not changed materially within the range of mod ern history.
 "A 35-year cycle, containing a period of cold, wet years, and a period of warm, dry years, has been generally accepted, but cannot be dis | cussed from the 43 years records of | a single station.''