550 lOu'A DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



CLIMATE AND CROP REVIEWS 



January was characterized bj^ sudden and marked variations in 

 temperature, excessive precipitation, the severe cold wave of the 

 12-13th, and a series of sleet and ice storms from the 25th to the 

 29th. An extreme instance of a marked change in temperature oc- 

 curred at Davenport on the 5th when the temperature fell from 55" 

 to 1°. "With reference to precipitation, the month was decidedly 

 the wettest of its name in the twenty-seven years' climatological his- 

 tory of the state. Every station in the state reported an excess oi 

 moisture, a fact in itself of note. Most of the precipitation was in 

 the from of rain and sleet, and the fall of sleet was the heaviest in 

 years, amounting to about an inch in some districts and was re- 

 ported somewhere in the state on more than half the days of the 

 month, culminating on the 28th and 29th in a fall of rain at tem- 

 peratures below freezing. Up to that time the several accretions of 

 sleet had formed a mass varying from half an inch to an inch in 

 thickness, and this was converted by the freezing rain practically 

 into a layer of ice that covered the entire landscape. Walking 

 became hazardous and accidents as the result of falls occurred by 

 the hundred. Many people were out skating on the golf links in 

 Des Moines, and in the countrj^ districts men skated from farms 

 to town. The cold wave of the 12th-13th v/as the severest since 

 the memorable January of 1912. 



Although colder than usual, February was a pleasant month, with 

 fair, sunshiny weather predominating. The deficiency of tempera- 

 ture was due to continuous low readings during the first two weeks 

 and during that period readings on several mornings were below 

 zero ; but, except in the extreme northwestern counties, no abnor- 

 mally low temperatures occurred. From the 15th to the 25tli the 

 temperature was almost continuously above the normal and the 

 weather was very pleasant, but the high temperature caused the 

 snow to melt rapidly, resulting in high water in all streams. In 

 some cases ice jams, damaged bridges and caused flooding of low 

 lands. 



March Avas somcAvhat milder and drier than usual, but these aver- 

 age conditions Avore not uniform over the state. In the extreme 



