14 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE 



minutes before the storm. A very heavy roar v/as heard during the pas- 

 sage of the cloud. The estimated damage to crops and property is placed 

 at $8,000, but there was no loss of life and no one was seriously injured. 



AUGUST. 



August, 1909, will be noted for its uniformly high temperatures, the 

 small number of cloudy days, and, over the larger part of the State, the 

 small amount of rainfall. Both the day and night temperatures were 

 high until the 28th, when a cool wave passed over the State, resulting 

 in light frosts an low ground on the morning of the 29th, over the northern 

 and, in a few localities, in southern districts; but no damage was done to 

 vegetation. The maximum temperatures were up to or above 90° on ten 

 days in northern and twenty-one days in southern counties, and the aver- 

 age of the monthly maximum temperatures was 96° 



The rainfall was deficient in all but the northeast and extreme north 

 central counties; yet at least a trace of rain fell in some part of the State 

 on every day of the month, except the 19th and 20h. During the second 

 decade, showers were frequent and the rainfall heavy over the northeast 

 and north central districts; but over the remainder of the State the 

 showers were extremely local, and the rainfall generally very light. The 

 monthly rainfall ranged from a trace in Jefferson county to 8.21 inches 

 in Chickasaw county. Drouthy conditions prevailed during the entire 

 month over the southern half of the State, and the condition of the corn 

 crop deteriorated from 10 to 25 per cent. There was also- some deprecia- 

 tion in a few localities in the northern districts, but the early planted 

 corn, on rich soil and well cultivated fields, withstood the drouth remark- 

 ably well and much of it was well up to the average of past years at the 

 close of the month. 



The drouth also seriously affected the pastures, fall plowing, late po- 

 tatoes and the fruit crops. The pasturage was so short in many sections 

 that it w^as necessary to give stock extra feed. The usual amount of falf 

 plowing has been reduced and the acreage of fall grains will be consider- 

 ably less than w^as anticipated. The second crop of hay will also be 

 short, and the clover seed crop will be much smaller than last year. The 

 dry, cloudless weather was favorable for stacking and threshing grain, 

 and that work progressed rapidly. Shock threshing was practically com- 

 pleted at the close of the month. 



Temperatuee. — The monthly mean temperature for the State, as shown 

 by the records of 114 stations, was 76.1°, which is 4.3° above the normal for 

 Iowa. By sections the mean temperatures were as follo^ws: Northern 

 section, 74.7°, which is 4.4° above the normal; Central section, 76.2°, which 

 is 4.3° above the normal; Southern section, 77.3°, which is 4.0°, above the 

 normal. The highest monthly mean was 80.4°, at Bloomfield, Dallas 

 county, and the lo-west monthly mean 71.2°, at Olin, Jones county. The 

 highest temperature reported was 103°, at Bedford, Taylor county, on 

 the 16th, and at Bloomfield, Davis county, on the 15th; the lowest tem- 

 perature reported was 33°, at Washta, Cherokee county, on the 29th. The 

 average monthly maximum was 96°, and the average monthly minimum 

 was 44°. The greatest daily range was 52, at Massena, Cass county. The 

 average of the greatest daily ranges was 34°. 



