Evening star., 1932-02-07

Continued From First Page
whole of the month which On lnarlly
is the coolest Of the year
I The excessive temperatures nave ex-
| tended north from Florida to Northern
| Maine and West beyond the MISSISSIPPI
! CITY after city. from Jacksonville tc
Boston. reported either that the Janu-
| ary record was equaled or that there
| was a slight excess over all otner
| Januarys.
| For Washington the temperature was
! above normal from 2 to 30 degrees 1of
/ every day CT the month except the
| 3lst. Then the average was degrees
| below the average for many years. Day
/ after day showed an excess over the
/ average of more than 10 degrees.
Wheat Ahead of Time.
The combination Of January rain and
| heat has brought about a situation in
! agriculture over the Eastern half OF
I the country the outcome of which Mr.
! Kincer pointed out, is unprediCtable
| The Winter wheat crop in Maryland
| for example, is two months ahead OF
| its normal growth. 1t is Just in the
| condition where prolonged cold spell
would cause great damage. Pastures
green and cattle are grazing in them
as far North as Michigan. This is
| bringing about a great saving in fodder
On the other hand the common prac-
tice of farmers who turn their cattle
loose into the sprouting Wheat-they
can't damage it during the first few
weeks after it sprouts-has been i'm
possible because the repeated drench-
ings have turned the fields into bogs.
The January heat. Mr. Kincer pointed
| out. is merely a continuation OF the
| unbroken period of abnormal heat
which has been enjoyed by the Eastern
| half of the country for more than q
! year, and which appears to be con-
| tinuatiOn Of temperature trend which
has continued more than 10 years. The
/ cause is obscure But the abnormal
rainfall is the most peculiar phenOme-
| non of the month. Last January was
/ one of the driest Winter months on
record while the month just past was
one of the Wettest.
South Has Heaviest Rain.
The greatest precipitation was over
| the States Just west Of the lower
Mississippi Through Louisiana. East
! Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas the
| rainfall ran from zoo to 400 per cent
!
age since records have been kept. Al
! over the East rainfall averaged from
| 25 to so per cent above the normal
| For the District Of Columbia it wen
"a per cent above average. and was tht
wettest January on record since 1922
| There was three times as much rain
fall here this year as last l
amounted to 482 inches. Both Ten
nessee and Kentucky had twice thei
normal January rainfall.
For the Far South. however. the grea
drenching started in December, whel
rainfall was almost double the normal
This means. Mr.. Kincer pointed out
that the great drought actually i
broken for the first time. Rainfall
through 1881 merely provided suppl,
of surface water. Wells which had KEEP
up through 1880 went dry last Summer
The great drought took all of the waite
out Of the subsoil. Agriculture was op
Grating on a shoestring. A compare
lively short dry season would have beer
| ruinous to crops because they had NJ
reservoir of subsol water upon which
to draw. This Winters excess has pu
a good supply back in the Subsoil, 81
that if there is normal precipitation TO
the rest of the year there is little dan
ger of dr. wells next Summer.
Rainfall Is Freakish.
The rainfall has been extremely freak
ish in its distribution. During January
for example Jacksonville, Fla, was YER
dry, with only Is per cent of its nor
nal precipitation Thomasville, Ga,
few miles to the west. had 208 per cen
and has experienced one of the Wettes
Winters in its history. Del Rio, Tex
had only half its normal rainfall durin
January. San Antonio a few miles t
the east. had more than 800 per cen
of normal. These are distribution
which the forecasters find it hard t
follow.
From all over the East come report:
as related by the January journal @
the American Meteorological Society
of the effects of the abnormal Winte
on all sorts of business. Clothing deal
ers restaurants and gas and electri
light companies are seriously affected
Only the soft-drink business report
much Improvement
Anomalies of nature are reported
the weather Bureau from all over tn
East. Until the cold spell of the las
. few days there were occasional fru
trees in bloom in many parts of tn
area. and Towering shrubs in farm
house yards were mistaking January fo
April.