TWENTIETH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VIII 695 



Miscellaneous Phenomena. Aurora, 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th. 5th, 12th, 16th, 24th. 

 Fog, 3d, 14th, 15th, 24th, 25th. Frost, 1st, 2d, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 

 16th, 17th, 18th. Hail, 3d, 4th, 5th, 15th, 19th. Halo, (lunar or solar), 

 1st, 2d, 4th, 7th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 17th, 18th, 23d, 25th, 27th. Thunder- 

 storm, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 19th, 26th, 30th, 31st. Rain- 

 bow, 17th, 19th. 



Rivers. Flood stages prevailed on the Mississippi River below Le 

 Claire during the first part of the month with a crest stage of 17.4 feet at 

 Keokuk on the 8th; then falling to below the flood stage after the 12th. 

 On the Missouri, moderate stages prevailed with but slight fluctuations. 

 Moderately high stages prevailed on the interior rivers during the first 

 part of the month due to heavy rains, but the fiood stage was not reached 

 except on the Des Moines River below Ottumwa. 



Tornadoes. On May 3, between 4.30 p. m. and 5.20 p. ni., a well de- 

 fined tornado formed about 5 miles southwest of Linn Grove, Buena Vista 

 county, moved northeastward, passing a short distance northeast of Sioux 

 Rapids and turned slightly toward the north into Clay county where it 

 dissipated. Numerous sets of farm buildings in its course were demolished 

 and the steel rails and wooden cross ties of the recently constructed bridge 

 of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad across the Little Sioux River 

 near Sioux Rapids, were torn from the 90-foot wooden trestle, leaving it 

 otherwise almost undamaged. The path of the storm at the widest was 

 400 feet and its total length about 12 miles. The total damage is about 

 $25,000. Between 6:00 p. m. and 6:30 p. m. of the same day, about 20 miles 

 to the east in Pocahontas county, another tornado moved across the north- 

 west corner of Marshall township into the south-central portion of Swan 

 Lake township south of the town of Laurens. The path was 75 to 200 feet 

 wide and 4i/^ miles long. Practically nothing was left standing in its 

 path; total damage $15,000. On the same day between 0:45 p. m. and 7 

 p. m. another tornado moved east-northeast from just south of Ulmer, Sac 

 county, through the village of Grant City, where it destroyed six houses, 

 a church and a school house, damaged four other houses, and uprooted 

 large trees. It disappeared about three miles northeast of Grant City. 

 The width of the path was about 200 feet and the length about six miles; 

 total damage about $10,000. On May 6 a short tornado occurred south of 

 Harvey, Marion county, and another near Langworthy, Jones county, 

 but the damage was immaterial. On the 31st there was slight evidence 

 of a tornado at Walcott, Scott county. 



