The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-07-21
Brands ~Drouthy" and ~Kansas
Cyclone" as HyperboIic.
"CyelOne State" as Erroneous
as the Use of the Word.
WIND IS LIKE MICHIGAES
Climate Is HeaIthful; VIII Cure
tuberculosis.
Change of Conditions Recently,
He Says, Is a DelusiOn.


Kansas apparently leads all other
interior states in the number OF re-
ports Of adverse weather conditions
and spectacular storms that have
emauated from it. Being pre-emi-
nently an agricultural state. its pros
perity from year to year has depend
ed upon its weather. and there seems
to have been an unfortunate tendency
from the beginning Of its history to
give undue publicity to the unfavor-
able features. We seldom hear about
the unpleasant or damaging weather
in other states whose climate is widely
advertised, but the terms, "drouthy
Kansas and kansas cyclones have
almost become a part of our spoken
language Even yet, great many
persons who are not familiar with the
conditions have difficulty in recon-
Cling the numerous reports or
drouths and storms with the fact that
the state ranks so high in per capita
wealth and general prosperity.
Annual Rainfall Good
The average annual precipitation Of
Kansas, which includes the moisture
from rain and melted sleet and snow,
ranges from a. inches in the south
eastern counties to a little more than
5 inches along the Colorado line
Over the eastern half IT equals that
H.
is only a little less than that of Hi
nois, Indiana or Ohio. and it occurs
at a more Opportune time of the year
than the precipitation of any OF -hese
states. From IL to 81 per cent Of
the annual amount for the entire
state occurs in the six crop growing
months, April to September, inclusive,
and there is no state in the country,
except n few along the South Atlantic
and Gulf coasts that taken as a
whole. receives as much rain during
the summer months as the eastern
third OF Kansas. It is interesting to
note in this connection that the COM
blnsd value Of the wheat and corn
raised in Kansas has exceeded the
combined value of these two crops in
any other state more than once in
recent years. and that over per cent
of the states yield of these is pro-
deuced in the middle third, where the
average annual precipitation ranges
from % to 80 inches, and drouths
Cperfods of thirty consecutive days or
more without at least quarter of an
inch of precipitation within twenty
four hours time) have occurred on
an average Of once year in the crop
season for the past twenty years
Not Tornado State.
To give Kansas credit for being the
Cyclone state" is almost as errone-
Gus as to use the term cyclone" in
stead OF tornado to designate these
violent whirlfng storms with the fun
ueI-shaped cloud That tornadoes do
occur within the state practically
every year can not be denied, cut il
should be considered that while the
area of the state exceeds 10000 square
miles, the path Of an average storm of
this character does not cover more
than three square miles, and many are
a great deal smaller, so that the path
of one can generally be represented
by a pin scratch less than an inch long
IN q map of the state the size Of one
usually given in an atlas.
In one of the most complete reports
on tornadoes of the United States ever
published Prof A J. Henry of the
weather bureau gives the total num-
her for the eight-year period. 1889
1895, in the different stat es and this
shows that when the relative area Of
the states concerned is considered, the
number of tornadoes in Kansas per
unit area is practically the same as the
corresponding number in Iowa and
but slightly greater than the number
Ter unit area in Illinois, yet neither of
these has Kansas undesirable repu-
tation for being q tornado state
Wind Velocity Low.
Kansas has also a reputation for be-
ing a windy state when. as a matter of
fact. the most recent compilation Of
wind velocity records over the coun-
try shows that the winds of the east
ern half Of the state are not uoticea bIv