Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-08-11
Continued from First Page

Continued from First Page
the Washington area has now
trebled that of 1880.
; But what if the shortage of
rainfall and stream flow should
continue through the summer?
An immediate and relatively
minor consequence could be
restrictions on lawn sprinkling,
car washing and such. as have
all ready been imposed in sub
urban areas using other than
Potomac waters.
The implications for the
more distant future-1g70, 1880
or the year 2000-are far more
serious. There may. quite pos
sibly, be parched Threats
around Washington by 1000
AID.
No Heavy Rains Near
AS for the present drought:
The Weather Bureaus five
day prediction calls for no
appreciable rainfall. The 30
day forecast is scarcely more
encouraging. 1t anticipates
moderate" rains. Moderate"
to the weather men, means pre-
cipitation within IS per cent
plus or minus-of normal.
If the rains should be on
the plus" side. perhaps even
the farmers will be able to
cushion some of the drought
losses they have already in
CURED. Should the minus rs
per cent materialize. something
approximating the 1880 record
drought conditions could we'll
fall upon metropolitan Wash
ington and the rest of the Po-
tomac valley.
Among other things in 1880.
Great Falls was reduced to a
Great Trickle." That year was
recalled two weeks ago when a
young adventures was able.
due to low flow. to walk across
the Great Falls diversion dam
above Washington'S raw water
intakes. This dam normally is
under water.
Only two days ago, engineers
noted that the Potomac at Little
Falls. where an additional water
supply is being built, had
reached one of the lowest
volumes of all the recorded /
months Of August.
According to the Weather 4
Bureau. rainfall deficiency since /
last May l has been Is per cent /
below the 12-inch normal of the ]
May-July period in the Potomac 4
watershed above Washington. /
In the same drought season of
1890. the rainfall deficiency
Wdo ~ pSI CeilJ.
2 Inches Below Normal
These percentage figures for
the critical dry months boil
down to the fact that in 1880
the rainfall averaged 2 inches
per month below normal in
each of the three months The
rainfall deficiency rate during
May-July. 1857. amounted to
inch per month below nor
NAL.
Weather specialists of the
Potomac River basin have
noted a cusious circumstance
that has occurred this year in
their forever curious speciality.
Rainfall in the last three
months in Washington and i'm
mediate vicinity has been al
most 2 inches less than the So
inch deficiency of 1880. Up
stream, back in the mountains
especially, the 1880 deficiency,
however, was markedly greater
than that of the present sea-
son. 1t is. apparently. the
mountain rain that has made
Inc difference.
Figuring all possibilities, as
they must. the weather fore
casters are cycling moist Hur-
ricane Bertha. and her sue
cessors, as potential means OF
relief for the Potomac water
shed "drys" Hurricane after
maths as have been demon
strated in recent years. can
add whopping water volume to
the streams.
Or they can be like this
years earlier Hurricane Au-
drcy-and a nameless 1880
midsummer howler-both OF
which deposited only a splat-
ter OF raindOops alone the Po-
tolnac.