The Alaska daily empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1912-1926, 1920-06-11
FREAKISH MAY
WEATHER SHOWN
IN COMP ARSON
High Percentage of Cold,
Rain and Sunshine Marks
Bureau Summary

The weather during the month
of May just closed, was rather var
led in the distribution of the differ.
ent respective meteorological ele-
ments, much to the distaste of the
residents of Juneau, according TO the
opinion of Eden w Day. temporarily
in charge of the Weather Bureau of
flee here in his summary for May
Comments. caustic and compliment
airy in their nature were several IN
number and it was not until the last
week in May that any encourage
mer apparel; men (nervy mem. blew
The people then forgot what they
had gone through in the forepart OF
the month, and much time was
consumed in telling one another how
delightful the weather really was
after all. Young ladies' and those
of ripper ages, blossomed out in sum
mer APPAREL; men (nervy mem, blew
the dust off their hat boxes and
resurrected their last years straw
hat. wrapped it in newspaper and
stole quietly to a nearby cleaning
establishment for the camouflage
treatment, and then stepped out after
a day or so, with the proud step of
peacock, to the accompaniment OF
balmy breezes. cloudless skies and
the most possible amount of sun
shine. During the middle of the
month, snow was present and then
the uniform of the day was over
coats and rubbers, and the most pop
ular sport was shovelng snow. Such
is the weather of Alaska
Mean Temp. 452 Degrees
The mean temperature for the
month was 45.2 degrees, this show
ing a deficiency of 80 degrees from
the 26 year normal for. the station.
This was the third coolest month in
the history of the records of the
station, mean of 447 degrees hav-
ing been recorded in 1884, and an
other of 44.3 degrees in 1889. Temp
erature extremes ranged from a max
imum of 70 on the 18th, to a mini
mum of 81 on the 9th. These ex
tremes were we'll within the bounds
of other years. The highest temp
erature is 80, and the lowest "a, the
years of record numbering 26.
A total amount of 6.13 inches of
precipitation, including TIE water
equivalent of 0.6 inches of snow.
proved to be in excess of the 25
years normal of the station, 516l
inches, to the extent of 1.03 inches
The greatest amount of precipitation
in "a hours occurred on the 18th and
18th, this amount being 1.55 inches,
Days upon which measurable guam,
tity of precipitation fell numbered 10
8 clear days, partly cloudy, and 10
cloudy were distributed throughout
the 81
Peculiar Phenomena Noted
A very peculiar phenomena was
noted on the 18th, 11:45 a. m, in the
form of a great quantity of vapor
rising from the roofs of buildings
and also from the ground under the
Influence of a sudden burst of sun
shine. This rising vapor had the
appearance of smoke and not few
people took it for fire. Juneau was
visited with a downfall of sleet on
the night of the 18th, and the
ground was covered to a depth of
about half an inch with small ice
pellets the diameter of which cor
responded to that of small peas
Four beautiful displays of the
Aurora Borealis, commonly known
as Northern Lights, were observed.
These displays occurred on the Isl,
7th, Sth and 18th, respectively. Solar
halos, (cofored rings around the SUM
were noted on just one day the 20th.
A heavy frost was recorded on the
14th, and killing frosts occurred on
the 9Th and 9Th.
1855 Hours of Sunshine
In spite of the unfavorable wea-
Their during the month, Juneau came
within one per cent Of having an
exact half Of the possible amount of
sunshine. The amount possible for
May-that is under conditions abso-
lutely Ideals 5199 hours. The
number of hours as actually recorded
was 1855, thus making the per-
centage of possible sunshine 40.
This amount of sunshine has only
been exceeded once since the es-
tablishment of this station. In May.
1918, the total of 273.6 hours of
sunshine were recorded making the