Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-02-06
MERCURY TUMBLESN
To 5 AS ICY GALES
WHIP ENTIRE SOUTH
Blizzard From Northwest De-
moraIizeS Traffic-Wind At
tainS Velocity of 63 Miles an
Hour-DUe to Moderate

The unexpected cold wave which
swept down on Atlanta at o'clock Sun
day Afternoon. bringing gale sixty miles
an hour and a temperature as low as
5 degrees, Is due to moderate somewhat
Monday afternoon, but it will not begin
10 get much warmer until Tuesday, &C
cording to today's forecast from the
weather bureau.
Atlanta shivered in temperature of
degrees at s o'clock Monday morning
The mercury rose gradually as the day
advanced, but the intense cold was ex-
pected to keep the temperature rather
low throughout the day The weather
man predicts minimum of about IL de-
grees Monday night.
This is somewhat warmer than it was
Sunday night and there will be none of
the snow or sleet that made Sunday
night so bitter. he says Fair and warm
er is the forecast for Tuesday. Condi-
tons in the northwest, whence the two
cold waves in succession came, have
cleared entirely and after Monday At
lanta will see the last of near-zero
weather for time at least.
SUNDAYS STORM.
Coming on the heels of the previous
cold weather, the wave struck Atlanta
like a prize fighter strikes his antagon-
list recovering from the effects of a
stunning body blow. The city had just
got on its. feet and strengthened I'D
when out OF the northwest came the
second blizzard with the suddenness of
lightning flash
And a peculiar thing about the sec
ond blizzard was that lightning and
thunder actually accompanied the gale
and the snow and the drop in tempera-
ture.
Plate glass windows were shattered,
trolley car traffic was demoralized, tele-
phone and telegraph communication was
shot to pieces, electric light and cleo
trio power was switched off and on with |
ftful frequency, and water pipes be-
ginning to thaw from the previous biz
zard were frozen again before the
plumbers could stop the leaks.
The following temperature readings
from the Office of the weather bureau
give the story of the blizzard at
glance:
MERCURY TUMBLES |
At IL o'clock noon on Sunday the tenn
perature was AZ degrees, and from tina
uHllI y ClOCh MONDAY morning
the range of the mercury was as fol- |
lows:
o'clock-43 degrees.
> o'clock-45 degrees.
o'cIock-47 degrees
o'clock-4S degrees
o'clock-49 degrees
6 o'clock-43 degrees
o'cEock-2S degrees.
8 o'clock-1S degrees.
o'clock-14 degrees.
10 o'clocl3-10 degrees.
IL o'clock-9 degrees
IL o'clock-(midnight degrees.
o'clock, a M degrees.
o'clock-6 degrees.
o'clock-6 degrees.
4 O'clock degrees.
5 O'clock degrees.
O'Clock degrees.
z o'olock-6 degrees.
oclock-S degrees.
9 o'ciock-10 degrees.
10 o'clock-12 degrees.
II o'clock-14 degrees.
u o'clock-16 degrees
l o'clock-19 degrees.
WIND VELOCITY.
The highest wind velocity recorded
by the instruments of the weather bu-
reau was at $40 o'clock Sunday after
noon. when the gale was roaring down |
from the northwest at the tremendous
rate of sixty-three miles an hour.
Sunday morning was fair and pleas
ant. Between 2 and 8 O'Clock gray
clouds began to pile up in the sky and
the wind shifted into the northwest 1t
looked as if the warm weather was go
ing to bring a rain. But around 5
o'clock the wind began to get cold and
the first flurries of rain were more ice
than water. The temperature began to
drop and the wind began to rise. At s
O'Clock it was showing and the gale was
bowling like pack of wolves.
In the midst Of the snow and the
bowling gale came flashes of lightning
and roars of thunder, punctuated blythe
crashes of heavy plate glass windows
that caved in and fell to the sidewalks
in thousand pieces.
Pedestrians left the streets. Auto
mobiles scurried home. Street cars
moved with difficulty, rocking on the
tracks like cradles when the terrific gale
took hold of them.
Coming ahead of the snow, the rain !
froze when il struck the cold pave
ments and made a place for the snow TO |
stick and freeze as fast as it fell. so
that a coating of thin ice was laid over
the city. Neither the rain nor the snow
amounted to much in inches, but all of
it froze and stayed. making all kinds
Of traffic exceedingly difficult and dan
gerous.
British Ships Floated
NORFOLK. Va, Feb. 5.-The British |
transport Harrington Court which went !,
ashore off Cape Henry Saturday night |
was floated about S:45 o'clock this morn /
ing. The released steamer passed IN