SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X 551 



eastern counties, the temperature was about normal, thence west- 

 ward the excess increased until at the Missouri river it amounted to 

 an average of 4° a day. The precipitation was below the normal, 

 except over the southeastern and extreme eastern counties, where, in 

 some localities, occurred the heaviest ]\Iarcli precipitation of record, 

 and most of it fell between the 21st and 26th. The fall at Washing- 

 ton during the time amounted to 5.56 inches. On the 26th the rain- 

 fall there was 4.41 inches, which compares with the heaviest 24- 

 hour amounts liable to occur at any time of the year in Iowa. An- 

 other feature of the month was the unseasonably high temperature 

 on the 12th over the southern half of the state. At Des Moines on 

 that day the temperature rose to a higher degree (77+) than ever 

 before recorded so early in the season. The warm weather started 

 grass to growing, so that by the close of the month lawns were almost 

 ready for mowing in southern sections. Spring seeding began in 

 the southern counties, except over the wet sections of the southeast, 

 but in the northern part of the state no field work was done. 



April was cold, cloudy and showery, and as respects the growth 

 of vegetation, backward. At the close of the month the season was 

 one to two weeks late. In some localities in the northern sections 

 oats seeding was uniinished at the close of the month, yet in other 

 localities seeding was completed and some ground prepared for corn. 

 In southern counties corn planting was in progress and fruit trees 

 were beginning to bloom as far north as central Iowa. A storm of 

 tornadic character did considerable damage to buildings in Wright 

 County on the evening of the 19th. 



With the exception of abnormally heavy rainfall in the southern 

 counties, the average temperature and precipitation for May varied 

 but slightly from the normal. Yet over large areas in the southern 

 counties the monthly amounts of rainfall were in excess of 7 

 inches, and in parts of Des l^.Ioines, Lee and Van Buren Counties 

 more than 9 inches fell. Frost did some damage on the 18th. 

 On account of the wet weather a considerable corn acreage 

 was unplanted at the close of the month, and much of the corn that 

 was up could not be cultivated. 



June was characterized by its persistent coolness and a severe 

 rainstorm in the northeastern counties on the night of the 1st. It 

 was the coolest June since state-wide observations were begun in 

 1890. The severe rainstorm will be described under the monthly 

 summary for June. While the month was moderately dry over most 

 of the State, the rains came at such timelv intervals that no serious 



