Evening star., 1953-08-28
Summers Are
Getting Hotter
Figures Reveal
Winters Are Warmer,
Too, Nowadays
BY Froncis P. Douglas


getting hotter.
The evidence of the perspir-
ing brow is borne out by Weather
Bureau figures. And there is no
indication when the swing in
temperatures will change to the
downside.
The hotter Summers-and less
cold winters, too-are nothing
Washington has a monopoly on.
Meteorologists have come to the
conclusion, backed by evidence,
that the temperature and polar
climeS have been warming up for
many years.
To get an idea Just what has
been happening to Washington
temperatures, summer tempera-
ture deviations from normal for
the last 10 years have been COM
pared to similar data for the 10
years 1900 through 1909.
1871 for June.
The normal-or mean-tem-
perature for June, based on 81
years of records. is 1871 degrees.
June averages for the years
10000 were compared with this.
In not one of these years was the
June average above the 73.1
mark. In 1908 it was 7 degrees
below the mark and in 1908 it
was 6 degrees below. The aver
age deviation for the period was
81 degrees below the normal
In contrast, the average devia-
tion for June in the period 1943
through 1852 was IL degrees
above the 1871 mark. In two
years. 1916 and 1947, the June
average fell below the normal
but only by half a degree. In
1943, the average was 6 degrees
above normal and last year it
was 4 degrees above.
The figures for July and
August do not present such
marked variations between the
earlier period and the later.
77.3 Normal for July.
The July normal is 77.3 de-
grees.
In the 10000 period, the
monthly July averages exceeded
this three times, varying from
2 of degree to 90 degrees
for a total of 3.6 degrees on
the plus side. In seven years
the July averages fell below the
normal for total of 10.6 de-
grees on the minus side. Taking
them together there is a net
total of 7 degrees on the minus
side or an average for the period
of Z of a degree below the
normal.
In the 1943-52 period, six
JulyS had average temperatures
above the mean and four had
averages below. The average Of
the deviation for the period was
l degree above normal.
For August, in the earlier pe-
riod there was an average devia-
ton of IL degrees below the
normal of 1873 degrees. In the
1943-52 period the average was
las degrees above normal.
Warmer Winters.
The winters are warming up.
too.
I. r. Tannehill, Weather Bu-
reau division chief, worked out
some figures which bear this outt
He took data for the cold half
of the year, October through
March. The mean of the aver
ages for this period over a 121-
year stretch is 418 degrees.
In the 14-year period, 1938-39
through 1951-52. the averages
for the October March months
exceeded the Alb degree mean
13 times and fell below it Only
once--in 1939-40. The average
variation from the Alb degree
figure was 26 degrees on the
plus side.
Meterologists cite as evidence
that the world is in general
swing toward warmer tempera-
lures with the retreat of glaciers
and warmer waters in northern
seas. The latter has led cod to
swim farther north. Formerly
unknown in Greenland, cod is
now staple food of the Eskimos.
The Air Force has built a base
at Thule on the northwest coast
of Greenland only 900 miles from
the North Pole. Even with pres
ent planes and ships it is believed
Its construction probably would
have been impossible so or 100
years ago.
The why" behind this? The
simplest explanation given is the
variations in the heat from the
sun.