Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-24
HEAT WAVE BROKEN;
COOL BREEzES DUE
Mercury Expected to Fall to
60 Degrees Before
Morning.

Adding his verbal assurances to the
cool breeze that ushersd in the first
day CT the Fall season, Charles L,
Mitchell, forecaster at the United States
Weather Bureau, declared today that
"Washington's heat wave has definitely
broken"
The break is due, not to yesterdays
electrical storm which lowered the Their
mometer % degrees, he explained, but
to the advance of cool air from the
Northwestern States which will be felt
mere perceptibly later in the day and
this evening.
. I'VE will have very pleasant weather
with no cause for complaints, for the
remainder of the week" Mr.. Mitchell
said. This Autumn. he believes will be
comfortable and refreshing on the whole
Cool Air Due Tonight.
Despite the storm that brought relief
from excessive heat yesterday afternoon
Mr.. Mitchell said that the minimum
temperature during the early part OF
the night, TIA degrees. was well above
normal for this time of the year ;.
1t will be quite different tonight the
forecaster assured. He said it would
not be surprising to see minimum OF
so degrees tomorrow morning. The cool
air in the Northwest. (which is sadvanc-
ing toward Washington, brought freez-
ing temperature to Minnesota and SO
degrees in the Chicago district. BY to-
morrow, weather in Washington is ex-
pected to return close to normal
At o'clock this morning the official
thermometer registered II degrees here
and an hour later 1t had risen points
BY noon, Mr.. Mitchell said, 1t would
gradually become cooler.
Heat Wave Broken.
The electrical storm which broke
Washington's latest heat wave yeSter-
day afternoon, caused the official Their
mometer to fall from 90 to 81 degrees
the minimum for the day, at 4 pm. 1t
remained comparatively cool during the
night, the lowest recording since mid
night being So degrees at o'clock this
morning.
Before the storm brought relief, how
ever, the heat had compelled public
school authorities to release all elemen-
tary pupils at o'cock and those in the
junior and senior high schools at 2
o'clock. Government employees in some
of the remaining temporary structures
suffered IS during early Summer from
the heat. Those in the Fedeal Trade
Commission and the Women's Bureau
consequently were dismissed at midday.
The storm reached Its height when
thousands of Government workers were
let out at 4:30 O'Clock to find trafic
tied up at several points. The Capital
Traction Co. suffered tie-up on upper
Fourteenth street that lasted l hour
and So minutes. The trouble was caused
by water on a conducting rail at Four
tenth and Kenyon streets. which caused
short circuit. Cars began running at
sos O'Clock.
Clarendon House Struck.
One house In Clarendon was struck
by lightning and scores of heavy
branches of trees we're scattered about
the city Suburban districts were par
fic was temporarily blocked behind a
huge limb that barricaded one side OF
Pennsylvania avenue near Madison
street.
Mrs. Samuel E. Cohen was in her
house at 119 Maple street, Clarendon
when 1t was struck by lightning, but
she escaped injury. 1t set fire to the
house and wrecked one of the top-fIoor
rooms. causing about $500 damage.
+ With the Summer officially ended
yesterday, j. B. Kincer, agricultural
meteorologist of the Weather Bureau
said that hand-to-mouth rains during
the season were all that pulled the crops
through this year
The Summer of 1881 brought the
fourth year of severe drought in the
Northwest, he said, visited the Noun
tain States with drought severe
enough to injure pasture and small
grains and gave even the drought re-
gton OF 1880 less rain than normal.
Mississippi and Ohio Valleys received
all the rains they needed, Mr.. Kincer
said.
Hopes for Cold Winter.
A cold Winter this wear will be bes,
from the farmers Standpoint. in the
opinion of the Weather Bureau. for cold
weather brings more precipitation. Win
ter rains and SHOWS are not used by
plants and are not eVaporated Sc
reaolly by the sun, but soak into the
ground, where the subsoil absorbs them
for future use
Inc Summer just ended was several
degrees warmer than normal, Weather
bureau reports indicate East and West
alike were stricken by series OF hot
waves. The hot weather postponed the
early Autumn frosts, usually expected
IN North Central and Northwestern
states, by extending itself right up to
the last day OF Summer.
Inc hottest September since 1927
pushed corn to the ripening point far
| ahead OF its usual schedule.
While other areas, principally Idaho
Montana. Colorado. Utah. South Da-
kota. Kansas and Nebraska, had only
81 To rs per cent of normal rainfall
the East Jared much better. Over the
Atlantic seaboard as a whole the rain.
lall was ITO to 125 per cent OF normal