The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-01-12
BURKHART SUBMITS
WEATHER REPORT
INTERESTING FIGURES ON PRE-
CIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE
IN ANNUAL STATEMENT.

A summary of weather conditions
for 1922 shows this year to be the
third driest year since the station was
established, 81 years ago, according
to the annual report of F. L. Burkart
of the University of Idaho extension
service division, cooperative United
States weather bureau observer The
complete report follows:
In the driest year, 1911, only 1856
inches of precipitation was recorded
while in 1904, the second driest year,
15.45 inches fell. The year 1922 was
the driest of the last eleven years,
having precipitation of only 1859
inches. This is 6.55 inches below the
normal for 80 years and 968 inches
less than fell during 1921. Taking
into consideration the fact that one
inch of rainfall distributed evenly
over an acre of ground weighs little
over 113 tons this departure from the
normal makes serious deficiency.
During 1921 1856 tons of water fell
on each acre of ground in this
vicinity; during 1922 only 1,772 tons
fell This is equivalent to 1,084 tons
less, on each acre, than in 1921 and
dtO IOno 1000 tlloli lnO llOl Oldl- <Ao-
suming that 500 pounds of water are
required to produce one pound of dry
matter the necessity for the storage
of a large amount of water in the
subsoil is evident. This emphasizes
the need Of heavy precipitation dur
ing the winter and spring if good
crop year is to be expected.
Nine Months Deficient.
Mine out of the twelve months in
1922 showed a deficiency in rainfall,
the excess in the other three months
was slight. January, March, and
December were the wettest months.
From April 1, until September 1,
which might be called the growing
season, 1858 inches fell; 296 inches
below the normal.
"The normal snowfall for December
is 10 inches During December, 1922,
265 inches was recorded This is 10
inches in excess of December, 1911, |
when 16.5 inches fell, a record for
the last 13 years.
During the years 1920 and 1921 |
the temperature did not drop to zero |
but in 1922 zero or subzero weather
was experienced 10 times; on January |
18th IL below; 10Th, 10 below; Feb
ruary 1, below; oath it was zero;
December 18th, 5 below; 18th, IL be-
low 18th, below; 14th, 6 below;
18th, 3 below; 18th below. January
18th was the coolest day of the year
with December 18th a close second; /
an accumulation of 65 degrees below
zero for the 10 days. The normal
number of times we may expect zero
Or sub-zero weather from records for
Is years is about four times each
year.
Heavy Snow Fall.
From January to December 81,
1922, S5.5 inches of snow fell Only {
.wice before was this fall exceeded;
n 1912, 1924 inches fell, record for !
his station, and in 1921, 88 inches !
vas recorded
Twenty days during the summer ]
he temperature rose to ~ degrees S
,r above. July was the hottest day,
when 90 degrees was recorded. The t
,verage number Of times that the tenn {
,erature reaches or passes ~ degrees {
,acb season is Ia. The year 1917 t
lolds the record, since on 20 separate
laws if was 80 degrees or above. Only S
wice in 13 wears has the temperature I
cached or passed 100 degrees; on f
[uly 80, 1914, it registered lO2 de- a
,rees. and on July 18, 1918, 100 de-
,rees. 80. 9
During the year, even with the n
ow rainfall. one hundredth of an inch /
f rain or more was recorded IN lVi q
ays, the greatest fall occurred on n
august IL, when LIS inches was re-
orded. In 1921 the number OF rainy r
avs totaled 1872, which is also re- b
ord. There were during the year t
80 clear days, IS partly cloudy, and a
44S cloudy days. t
Free From Frost. Y
g A frost free period of 153 days t.
7as experience, the last killing frost Il
4 the spring occurring on May %,
nd the first killing frost in the fall r
n October 22 The normal frost free a
eriod is 139 days. The average date c
f the last killing frost in the spring f
May 10, and the first in the fall, tt
eptember 26. {
Figures for II years show that the il
ifferent months during the year
1owed marked departures from the G
January was the fourth R
oldest; February third coldest; E
[arch third coldest; April second r.
oldest; May was normal; June was tt
le warmest in II years; July the te
scond warmest; August fourth warm al
1t; September third warmest; Octo-
or third warmest; November third ty
oldest, and December third coldest. m
he year 1922 was the fourth coldest h'
the last IL years.