The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-08-25

The rain measured One-half inch,
month too late.
1t began shortly after 10 o'clock and
until noon intermittent showers fell in
a varying degree of heaviness. A chill,
cold, breeze accompanied the long ex-
pected shower
The rain measured onehalf inch,
breaking a period of drouth of 64
days, one of the longest dry spells on
record for this time of the year. Up
to 2 o'clock this afternoon the gauge
at the weather bureau indicated only
one-ha1f inch OF rain. altho many per-
son believed, more rain had fallen.
This was the largest precipitation
since .S4 of an inch fell on June %.
The only other rain that could be
fell on the night of July 81 and on
August 1.
The temperature dropped to So de-
grees this morning at IL o'clock. This
is the lowest temperature ever re-
corded on this date.
At 1890 o'clock this morning the
wind came into Topeka at the rate of
forty miles an hour from the north.
1t brought the rain storm with it. The
rain was totally unexpected and not a
prediction in Kansas called for rain
today, except local showers. This morn
ing twenty-six weather stations about
Kansas reported no rain. They also
reported that indications were that
there would be no rain.
Was Upper Air Storm.
Flora said that all calculations were
made from the lower air. There is no
way of knowing what is going on in
the upper layers of air. TIE storm
that came into Topeka was probably
brewing in the upper air. but it made
no indications close to the earth by
which 1t could have been forecasted
that rain was coming.
Up to the present time Flora has no
data indicating that the rain is gen.
eral Whenever a rainfall of more
than one inch occurs at any of the
weather stations they are to report at
once by telegraph to the local station.
Only one report had been received at
2 o'clock. Hanover reported 1.o5
inches of rain.
The weather map does not indicate
that there will be more rain. Still
there may be more of the same
showers come up as unexpectedly.
day period during which time a
shower does not occur some place in
Kansas. While the rain this morning
is mighty welcome it was not of suf-
ficient size to Go much good.
River Up Here, Too.
The river had risen 2 of foot at
o'clock, indicating Flora said. that
the rain came down so fast that it was
, probably running off the ground in
stead of sinking into the soil.
A series of conflicting reports marked
the advent of the progress of the rain.
There were local showers listed for the
first of the week. Then it would not
rain here-except as bare possibility.
Within one-haIf hour rain was falling
1t was not predicted that the precipi-
tation would continue. Even the
weatherman, S d. Flora, did not be-
lieve it would continue. But it did.
Raining briskly it would dwindle out
10 almost nothing and before a pedes-
trian could walk a block il would
again become a drenching downpour.
The weatherman missed the best
chance he had had in two months to
bet that Topeka would get its feet
wet. Almost on the strength Of the
clouds alone one would have stood a
good chance of predicting rain and
getting away with il. Still the layman
does not have the data at hand for
estimating the chance of rain. From
predictions made this morning there
was not definite enough data to be
sure Of rain. The rain storm came up
| unexpectedly in the high wind that
swept into Topeka about 10 o'clock
The smell of rain was strong in the
atmosphere. At that it has smelled
like rain several times in the past two
months-still nothing doing-until to-
day.