PART IX 



Annual Report of the Iowa Weather and^Crop 

 Service Bureau for 1917 



GEORGE M. CHAPPEL, M. D„ Director 



For convenient reference and comparison with past and future 

 years, this report contains the summaries of the monthly and weeldy 

 bulletins of the Iowa Weather and Crop Service in cooperation 

 with the Weather Bureau of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture for the year 1917. 



The regular meteorological, climatologi'cal and crop statistical 

 work of the Service has been maintained and kept up to the high 

 standard of efficiency of past years; more than the usual atten- 

 tion having been devoted to the accuracy of the reports and the 

 exposure of instruments. 



Twenty-four thousand copies of the monthly Climatological Re- 

 ports, and 30,000 copies of the weekly Weather Crop Bulletins 

 were distributed during the year. Five hundred copies of the 

 monthly reports are distributed each month through the Weather 

 Bureau, U. S. Department of Agriculture, to scientific institutions 

 and libraries in this and foreign countries. 



The daily weather forecasts were distributed by telegraph at the 

 expense of the U. S. Weather Bureau to 80 towns, by franked mail 

 to 1,918 addresses, by rural delivery to 819 addresses, and by free 

 telephone to 115,207 subscribers. Preparation was made to have 

 frost warnings sent, in case of necessity, during the fruit bloom- 

 ing season, to all orchardists in the state who were prepared to use 

 orchard heaters in case of frost or injurious temperatures. 



CLIMATOLOGY OF THE YEAR 1917 



The mean temperature, 44.8°, is the lowest; in the 28 years of 

 record and 2.6° below the normal. The temperature deficiency was 

 accumulated ehiefiy in February, April, May, June, August, Oc- 

 tober and December. High temperatures occurred toward the close 



