THIRTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART I 9 



MARCH NORMALS FOR IOWA— 1890-1912. 



Normal temperature for March, 34,2°. 



Warmest March, 1910, with mean temperature of 48.9°. 



Coldest March, 1899, with mean temperature of 23.0°. 



The mean temperature for March, 1912, was 24.9°. 



Normal March precipitation, 1.74 inches. 



Wettest March, 1901, with total precipitation of 2.64 inches. 



Driest March, 1910, with total precipitation of 0.17 inch. 



Average depth of snowfall, 5.4 inches (1892 to 1912, inclusive.) 



Greatest snowfall in March, 19.1 inches, in 1912. 



Least snowfall in March, trace, in 1910. 



Average number of days with 0.01 inch or more of precipitation, 6. 



Prevailing direction of wind, northwest. 



Average number of clear days, 12; partly cloudy, 8; cloudy, 11. 



APRIL. 



The average temperature and precipitation varied but little from the 

 normal for April; the temperature being only 1.4° above and the pre- 

 cipitation 0.14 inch below the normal. The excess of temperature, how- 

 ever, occurred during the first half of the month, which was moderately 

 warm, except on the first three days when the minimum temperatures 

 were near or below the freezing point; the 3d being the coldest day of 

 the month and the 5th the warmest. Warm periods prevailed on the 

 4th and 5th and from the 10th to the 12th. The latter half of the month 

 was cool. The precipitation was well distributed throughout the month; 

 the 3d being the only day on which no precipitation was recorded in 

 the state. An unusually heavy snow storm for April prevailed over the 

 southern and eastern counties on the 17th. Thirty-six stations within the 

 area of the storm reported an average of 4.0 inches of snowfall; the 

 greatest amount being 12.0 inches at Wapello. 



The prevailing wind velocities were much greater than usual for April, 

 and exceeded those for March. Several destructive wind storms occurred, 

 the most damaging ones reported being in the vicinity of Earlham and 

 Boone, on the 13th. 



As a whole the month was quite favorable for farm operations, but 

 owing to the fact that no field work was done during March, spring 

 plowing, seeding and planting were delayed and seeding was not completed 

 until the close of the month, and no corn planting was done. At the end 

 of the month the early sown oats were up, and showed a good stand, 

 grass was improving and some stock was in pasture. Cherries and plum 

 trees were beginning to bloom in the southern counties, but in the re- 

 mainder of the State the buds were still dormant or just beginning to 

 swell. 



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

 by the records of 114 stations, was 49.9°, which is 1.4° above the normal 

 for Iowa: By sections the mean temperatures were as follows: North- 

 em section, 48.5°, which is 1.7° above the normal; Central section, 

 50.1°, which is 1.6° above the normal; Southern section, 51.2°, which ig 



