Weather Conditions in Relation to Grouse 191 



The temperature and precipitation records for 1896-97 show a 

 very severe late winter in 1896 and a very cold June in 1897. Febru- 

 ary and March snows in 1896 exceeded twenty-five inches each 

 month, more than fifty per cent above normal. Temperatures in 

 February were normal, but in March the mean was seven degrees 

 below the thirty-two degree norm. This low March temperature 

 condition was rivaled in only one year, 1916, another year of grouse 

 decrease. The 1897 June temperature mean was some three degrees 

 below the sixty-five degree norm, a condition that has occurred out- 

 side of grouse decline years only in 1902 and 1903, and in the latter 

 possibly contributing to the minor decline in 1904. Other conditions 

 were close to average in these two years. 



The next big decline period of 1907 was notable for its cold spring. 

 April was four and seven-tenths degrees below normal in its mean,^ 

 May five and five-tenths and June two and one-tenth, the latter be- 

 ing even worse during the first half of the month. This coolness was 

 accompanied by a marked deficiency in sunshine in April and May. 

 Precipitation was average though Woodruff (1907) and Forbush 

 ( 1912 ) called it a cold and wet spring. The late winter of 1907 was 

 normal except for a six degree deficiency in the February mean. 



As there is some indication that the 1907 grouse drop-off may have 

 begun in some areas in 1906, let us examine the records for that year 

 before proceeding further. A severely cold March (six degrees be- 

 low norm ) with snowfall well above average succeeded an ordinary 

 February. The spring was normal throughout. 



The decline of 1916-17 concurred with some of the most severe 

 weather in the history of the state. The February temperatures in 

 1916 averaged three and five-tenths degrees low, and there was 

 seven and nine-tenths inches of snowfall in excess of the typical. 

 During March, an eight and one-tenth degrees deficiency in the 

 temperature mean, accompanied twenty-one and six-tenths inches of 

 snowfall above the usual. In the spring, sunshine was low through- 

 out, especially in April and June. Temperatures were normal in April 

 and May but very cool in June, being four and two-tenths degrees 

 below the average. Precipitation was normal in April, but excessive 

 in May and June. Turning to the winter of 1917, we find that it in- 

 cluded severe February temperatures and March precipitation, but 



^ "Mean" weather records are deemed "average" or "normal," and are the standards 

 used by the Weather Bureau. 



