EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IX 463 



MONTHLY SUMMARIES 



JANUARY. 



Fair and mild weather till the 10th was followed by a cold wave, and 

 temperatures of zero and lower occurred in nearly all portions of the 

 State during the next few days. The coldest in the State during the 

 month was — 28° at Elkader on the 13th. A storm center in northern 

 Arizona on the morning of the 20th passed over Iowa attended by snow 

 on the 20-21st, and was followed by a cold wave. In the north part of 

 the State, where the snow was heavy, it drifted and interferred seriously 

 with rail traffic. The cold wave that followed was severe in the north por- 

 tion of the State where temperatures 14 to 20 below zero occurred. Tem- 

 peratures of 50 to 60 degrees, the highest of the month, were general on the 

 28th. General snow on the 30-3 1st was followed by the imost severe cold 

 wave of the winter which was sweeping southeastward across the State 

 at midnight of the 31st. 



As a whole, this may be regarded as a nearly normal Iowa January, 

 though with an excess of precipitation and a deficiency in temperature in 

 the northern and reverse conditions in the southern portions. Sunshine, 

 averaging 67 per cent, is 17 per cent above normal and has seldom been 

 equaled in January. Ice in the rivers averaged 9 to 13 inches thick at the 

 beginning of the month and 11 to 22 inches at the close, and much ice 

 of good quality was harvested. 



Winter grain, which because of the deficiency in rainfall, did not become 

 well established in the fall, is believed to have suffered somewhat from 

 the glaze of December and the temperature extremes with deficient snow 

 covering in January. 



Pressure. — The mean pressure (reduced to sea level) for the state was 

 30.07 inches. The highest recorded was 30.99 inches, at Dubuque, on the 

 16th, and the lowest was 29.02, at Charles City on the 21st. The monthly 

 range was 1.97 inches. 



Temperature. — The mean temperature for the state, as shown by the 

 records of 108 stations, was 17.0°, or 0.9° lower than the normal. By 

 divisions, three tiers of counties to the division, the means were as fol- 

 lows: Northern, 11.8°, or 2.8° lower than the normal; Central, 16.9°, or 

 1.3° lower than the normal; Southern, 22.4°, or 1.5° higher than the normal. 

 The highest monthly mean was 26.1°, at Keokuk, and the lowest monthly 

 mean was 8.1° at Estherville. The highest temperature reported was 60°, 

 at eight stations in Wapello, Jefferson, Henry, Van Buren and Lee Coun- 

 ties, on the 28th, and the lowest temperature reported was — 28° at El- 

 kader, on the 13th. The temperature range for the state was 88°. 



Humidity. — The average relative humidity for the state at 7 a. m. was 

 81.1 per cent, and at 7 p. m. it was 77.2 per cent. The mean for the month 



