194 



In 1870, stations were established by the United States Signal Serv- 

 ice at Mobile and Montgomery, Alabama. This service was enlarged in 

 18S0 with the aid of depot masters at a number of railroad stations and 

 of voluntary observers in different parts of the State. In 1881 a mete- 

 orological station was established at Auburn in connection with the 

 Alabama Polytechnic Institute, and in 1884 this was made the central 

 station for the weather service of Alabanui. 



At the preseut time the system is ou most excellent footiug aud is doing most effi- 

 cient service to the people of the State. 



A bulletin is issned at the end of each mouth, and special weekly bulletins during 

 the crop seasons ou Saturday mornings, indicating the etiects of the weather ou the 

 crops. At irregular periods special bulletins have been issued upon some meteoro- 

 logical subject, written by experts. lu the reports that have been sent to the central 

 station during the past five years we find not simply dry figures, but they also include 

 much that is interesting concerning the planting and reaping of crops ; the occurrence 

 of frosts and damages resulting from floods ; much concerning the health of the people 

 of the State as atfected by sudden changes of the atmosphere ; the passage of cold 

 waves ; flight of birds ; ravages of insects and great storms. 



The principal contents of the bulletin are as follows : diagrams of 

 the weather and temperature flags of the sigual service, with explana- 

 tions; a table showing the history of meteorological work in Alabama, 

 which includes the location, latitude, longitude, and elevation of each 

 station, date of ofjcning and closing of the station, character of the ob- 

 servations, and names of observers and of authorities to whom reports 

 were made; temperature and rain-fall data from a number of stations 

 where observations were made lor several years; a diagram showing 

 for the entire State the maximum, minimum, mean maximum, mean 

 minimum, and average temperatures, for periods of from two to twenty- 

 one years; descri])tive notes on the years of drought, of excessive rain- 

 fall, and of destructive storms ; tabulated data on tornadoes in Alabama, 

 with a map showing the track of these storms, taken from an article by 

 Lieut. J. P. Finleyin the American Meteorological Journal; descriptive 

 notes on cold winters and warm summers ; list of the years of good and 

 bad crops; notes on the winds prevalent in Alabama, w'lth a diagram 

 showing the annual average direction of the wind from 1884 to 1889; 

 a meteorological summary for Alabama for each year from 1884 to 1889 

 inclusis^e ; two maps of Alabama, showing the normal temperatures and 

 j)recipitations ; and an appendix containing tabulated data for obser- 

 vations of soil temperatures taken at the station during 1888 and 1889, 

 with a diagram showing the average temperatures of the soil and the 

 maximum aud minimum temperatures of the atmosphere for each 

 month of 1889. 



Some general condiisions. — Alabama is so situated in relation to the parallels of lati- 

 tude and the dift'erence in elevation between the southern and northern portions that 

 mauy of the plants necessary for man's sustenance aud pleasure may be successfully 

 grown within her borders. Her climate is so varied, without great extremes, that 

 most of the plants peculiar to tropical regions are grown in the belt bordering the 

 Gulf; and the cereals and forage plants common in the North and West are success- 



