526 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Sunshine and Cloudiness. The average per cent of the possible amount 

 of sunshine was 62, or about 7 per cent more than the normal. The per 

 cent of the possible amount at the regular Weather Bureau stations was 

 as follows: Charles City, 49; Davenport, 63; Des Moines, 59; Dubuque, 

 64; Keokuk, 61; Sioux City, 73; Omaha, Nebr., 64. 



Miscellaneous Phenomena. Aurora, observed at Inwood on the 10th; 

 Allison and Nora Springs on the 12th; and Waukee on the 19th. Birds 

 (migration of), Bedford, blue birds and ducks on the 26th; Corydon, robins 

 on the 7th; Earlham, blue birds and ducks on the 14th. Fog, 6th, 7th, 8th, 

 9th, 10th, 14th, 17th, 18th, 19th. Hail, 5th, 8th, 14th, 19th. Halo (lunar or 

 solar), 1st, 3d, 4th, 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22d, 

 23d, 24th. Haze, 18th. Parhelia, 1st, 2d, 19th, 20th. Sleet, 6th, 8th, 14th, 

 27lh. Thunderstorms, 8th, 13th, 25th, 28th. 



THE WINTER OF 1917-1918'. 



The mean temperature for the three winter months was 15.4°, which is 

 5.4° below the normal for the State, and only 0.5° warmer than the cold- 

 est of the 28 winters of record, 1892-93. The highest temperature reported 

 was 70° at Clarinda, Page County, on February 23d. The lowest tempera- 

 ture reported was 40° below zero at Washta, Cherokee County, on De- 

 cember 29th. 



The average monthly precipitation for the State was 0.84 inch, and the 

 average total precipitation was 2.53 inches, or 0.89 inch less than the win- 

 ter normal. The average total snowfall, unmelted, was 23.9 inches, or 3.4 

 inches more than the normal and 6.5 inches more than the average fall 

 for the winter of 1916-17. 



The total number of days with .01 inch or more of precipitation was 18, 

 or 5 more than the average for the winter of 1916-17. The average num- 

 ber of clear days was 37, partly cloudy 24, cloudy 29, as compared with 46 

 clear, 24 partly cloudy and 20 cloudy days during the winter of 1916-17. 



