EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IX 



465 



COMPARATIVE DATA FOB THE STATE— JAtTO ART. 



T indicate an amount too small to measure, or less than .005 Inch precipita- 

 tion, and less than .05 Inch snowfall. 



FEBRUARY. 



February, 1917, was the driest month of that name since state-wide ob- 

 servations began in 1890, and it was the coldest February since 1905. It 

 was, however, ratlier a pleasant winter month as there was only one bad 

 storm which occurred on the 4th, when the temperature was below zero 

 all day, north of Des Moines, and the minimum temperatures ranged 

 from 8° below zero at Keokuk, in Lee County, to 28° below zero at Lake 

 Park, in Dickinson County. The velocity of the wind ranged from 39 

 miles an hour at Des Moines to 69 miles an hour at Sioux City. Over 

 the greater part of the State these conditions were accompanied by fall- 

 ing snow, which made the worst blizzard for many years. Railroad traf- 

 flce was suspended for several days on some lines in the northern coun- 

 ties. Although cold, the remainder of the month was generally pleasant. 

 Over the southern counties there was practically no snowfall, and the 

 ground in that section has been practically bare during the entire winter, 

 and it is thought that winter grains have been injured. Owing to the lack 

 of moisture during last summer, fall and winter the ground is very dry 

 and many wells have failed. At Des Moines there has been a deficiency 

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