Evening star., 1961-01-01
BY WILLIAM GRIGG
Star stan Writer


Star stan Writer
Few years in Washington's
history brought as much un-
usual weather as 1860.
On February 3 The Star
asked. Where are the SHOWS
of yesteryear?"
The answer came in o quick
succession Of heavy snow falls
in which 40 cars were stranded
near Frostburg. Md, barns
collapsed and helicopters had
to be called in to take expect
ant mothers to hospitals on
the Eastern Shore.
With a mean temperature Of
25.6 degrees, March was 9.7
degrees below normal. The
average of the daily highs in
March was the lowest on rec
ord for the month.
And q new March record
was set Of 16 consecutive days
with o minimum Of 80 degrees
or less. The previous record
was IS days in 1888. Records
have been kept for 80 years
locally.
All together, there were "a
days In March with minimums
of 80 degrees or less-another
record.
These lows in March caused
pt to have the greatest number
Aof days in which homes and
other buildings required heat
Of any March on record.
s5 Degrees on April %
Then came April, and records
for high temperatures were
established. One was a sue
cession Of four days with tenn
peratures 90 degrees or higher.
The earlier record was three
days in 1929. April's mean
temperature was the highest
on record: 6l.2 degrees.
April,s average maximum OF
72.8 degrees was also a record.
On April %, the thermometer
hit 95-the hottest 1t ever got
in 1860. The daily mean OF 80
degrees on April Is equaled the
previous record.
No other records were made
until December, when the snow
that fell on December ii and
IL covered the ground longer
than any previous December
snowfall-an inch or more re-
manned in exposed areas for
16 days.
The earlier record was made
by a 1857 December snowfall
that. lasted three days. The 10
degree minimum on December
% was the lowest Of the year,
but no all-time record. In Dec
ember Of 1880. the temperature
dropped to 13 below.
For the Weather Bureau,
1960's weather may have been
unusual but 1t was not unex-
pected. The chief district
meteorologist Reinh art c.
Schmidt, figured Friday that
local precipitation forecasts
each morning had been S7.2
per cent correct.
He applied a rigid yard
stick. To be correct, a forecast
had to predict not only the
right day but the right 12-
hour period.
Forecasts S4.s% Accurate
The Bureaus local forecasts
for all times in the day were
84.8 per cent correct in 1850.
The bureau began using a
new radar with q 250-mile
range early in the year. And
Just q few days ago facsimile
equipment was speeded up.
Weather maps are now received
in 10 minutes instead of 20.
Teletype machines are now
in-the process of being speeded
from rs words a minute to 100.
When The Star asked where
yesterdays SHOWS had gone In
that February 8 report. 1t
warned that late snow could
still come. The report noted
that "all heck broke loose" on
February 13, 1914, after
months Of mild weather.
On cue, a five-inch snow fell
IN 1960-beginning on Febru-
ary 13. Then on February 10,
snow trapped 80 persons in 60
cars near Frostburg, Md, on
u. s. 40. Those who reached
nearby motels returned to find
only their radio eerisls poking
above seven-foot drifts.
Schools Are Closed
In the city. rain and wind
knocked out the electric power
lines to hundreds of homes.
City teachers recall the
March 3 snow most bitterly. Il
mixup in the superintendent
Office caused radio and televi-
sion stations to announce that,
although students were ex-
cused. teachers were not. Many