Nov., 1921 THUNDERSTORMS 37 



both forenoon and afternoon on 63 days, on 9 days the storm 

 began in the forenoon and ended in the afternoon, and on 2 

 occasions the storm began on the afternoon or evening of one 

 day and ended in the early morning of the following day. Note 

 that the afternoon thunderstorm is about four times as fre- 

 quent as the forenoon, that the number of days with thunder- 

 storms both morning and afternoon is quite large, that the 

 number of days on which the storm begins in the forenoon 

 and continues into the afternoon is quite small and the num- 

 ber beginning in the afternoon or evening and continuing 

 beyond midnight is smaller still. 



The reports further show that at leats 31 persons were 

 killed during the year by lightning, 70 others more or less 

 injured; in addition, a large number of animals were killed and 

 much property destroyed. We have no reliable figures as to 

 how many times the lightning actually struck but we learn 

 from the report of the State Fire Marshal that 215 fires were 

 started during the year as the result of a lightning stroke, 

 destroying property valued at about $370,000. The 215 objects 

 damaged or destroyed were classified as follows: 137 barns, 

 53 dwellings, 4 churches, 4 sheds, 4 warehouses, 2 haystacks, 

 2 oil tanks, 1 dry cleaning establishment, 1 hotel, 1 livery 

 stable, 1 school house, 1 straw stack, 1 manufacturing estab- 

 Hshment and 2 mercantile buildings. The Fire Marshal's office 

 takes no note of lightning strokes that do not start a fire or cause 

 the loss of human life. These fires were distributed through the 

 months as follows, viz.: February, 5; March, 6; April, 5; 

 May, 33; June, 27; July, 45; August, 66; September, 17; 

 October, 11; January, November and December, none. 



Another item of considerable interest, perhaps, is that 

 about 95 per cent of the objects struck were wet at the time 

 and rain was falling, leaving only about 5 per cent that were 

 dry and struck when no rain was falling. In one case, the 

 burning of a bam near Conneaut, Ashtabula County, March 

 26th, the report seems to indicate that snow was falling at the 

 time of the stroke that caused the fire. 



Another thing: The days on which thunderstorms are 

 general over the State are relatively few. Of the 169 thunder- 

 storm days in 1917, on 7 days only were thunderstorms general; 

 on 11 days they covered about three-fourths of the State; on 



