26 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



'"Tf'iiijnndiirr. — Altlimiirli tlu' year was charai'tcri/A'd liy some of llic coldest 

 -vvoather exi)erieiife(l witliiii the last 20 or :!0 years, tlie avera<,'e teiiiiieiature on the 

 wliole was above noniial. 



" During the greater part of January there were no severe cold waves, lint, begin- 

 ning with tlie first wi'ek in February, the most remarkable cold wave, or series of 

 cold waves, in the history of the Weather Bureau traversed the United States from 

 the North Pacific to the South Atlantic coasts, damaging crops and fruits in the 

 Southern States to a very great extent. The lowest temperatures on record since the 

 beginning of observations were recorded at a number of points in the North Pacific 

 coast States during the first 8 days of the month. From the 9th to the 12th of tlie 

 month the coldest weather on record was reported at a number of jjoints in tin; Cen- 

 tral, Western, and Northwestern States. During the Kith and 14tli a cold wave 

 overspread the Southern and Eastern States, attended on the 13th liy tlie lowest 

 teniperatures ever recorded at many points in the Southern and Gulf States. March 

 was a cold, wintry month, and the spring was generally backward, with much snow 

 and nnseasonal)le weather east of the Rocky INIountains. 



"In Idaho, ^Montana, and Wyoming, the western portions of the Dakotiis, and 

 Nebraska temperature was T)elow normal for 4 (•onsecutive months, vi/, during Felj- 

 ruary, March, April, and May, and also, but in a less degree, during the months of 

 June, July, August, October, and December. 



"The summer was marked by an absence of periods of continued liigh tempera- 

 ture. Very nearly normal conditions prevailed in all parts of the country. 



"The fall of the year was generally mild and fi'ee from sharj) and decided tem- 

 perature changes. 



"Interlake navigation began al)out the first of May and ende<l about Decend)er 17. 

 The weather in the closing months was quite free from severe storms. . . . 



'^Precipitation. — The precipitation of the year just ended was not evenly distributed. 

 There were 7 separate regions, of greater or less extent, in which more than the nor- 

 mal quantity of rain and snow fell, viz: (1) The Pacific coast from central California 

 to British Colund^ia, including part of the central and all of the northern Plateau; 

 (2) eastern Wyoming and the Black Hills region of South Dakota; (3) eastern Colo- 

 rado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and the Panhandle of Texas; (4) northern Wisconsin and 

 the Lake Superior region; (5) southeastern Iowa and central Illinois; ((5) a narnjw 

 strip of countr)' east of the Appalachians, extending from Augusta, Ga., to ^^'aslling- 

 ton, D. C. ; (7) the western portion of the Peninsula of Florida. 



"Precipitation was markedly deficient in the lower Mississippi Valley, the deficits 

 at the 2 regular Weather Bureau stations in Louisiana being 25 and 29 in., respec- 

 tively. The rainfall of the Gulf States in 1898 was almost normal, and it seemed at 

 tlie end of that year that the droughty conditions which had prevailed for a number 

 of years were about to come to an end. The year just closed, however, ^jresents the 

 same marked deficiency in precipitation throughout the Gulf States and Texas that 

 has characterized so many years within the hust decade. The cause of the deficiency 

 is not at present known. 



"' Metrorolxxpi of the (Ireal Jjih'.s. — The season of navigation was remarkably free 

 from severe storms. . . . The most .severe storm of the season occurred on Decem- 

 ber 11 and 12, at a time, however, M'hen a large number of vessels had gone out of 

 c<)nniiissi(in. 



"The rainfall in the Lake Superioi- basin was above normal. The snowfall of the 

 winter and spring months was rather lieavy not only in the Superior basin but also 

 on the northern shore of Lake Huron, jiarticularly in the Georgian Bay region. On 

 the (jther hand, precipitation was generally below normal in the basins of Lakes Erie 

 and Michigan, and also over those portions of the watersheds of Lakes Huron and 

 Ontario lying within the boundaries of tlie ITnited States. 



"There was less fog reported during the season of 1899 than during the previous 

 season. The most fog was observed over the central portion of Lake Superior. 



