344 



ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 3 8 



where from New England to Virginia and westward, including Ken- 

 tucky and Ohio, and were continued in one of the coldest Februarys 

 on record. Precipitation during February was slightly below normal 

 for most of the area. These conditions were favorable for freezing the 

 ground to a depth of several inches and, therefore, conducive to floods; 

 the greater part of the March rains was immediately available as 

 run-off. After the first 8 days, March temperatures were 3 to 12 

 degrees above normal. Precipitation was well above normal in all 

 parts except Kentucky and Ohio: in New England more than twice 

 the normal monthly amount fell. Fortunately a week of balmy winds 

 preceded the first heavy rains, so that the removal of the snow cover 

 and softening of the ice were well under way. A respite of a few 



SNOW COVER 



"^ March 2 l936 March 23 

 A' *v I I 



Figure 18.— Depth of snow on ground at 8 p. m., 

 March 2, 1936. (From Weekly Weather and 

 Crop Bull., March 3, 1936.) 



Figure 19.— Depth of snow on ground at 8 p.m., 

 March 23, 1936. (From Weekly Weather and 

 Crop Bull., March 24, 1936.) 



days after the first downpours also permitted the crest of the snow, 

 ice block, and rain flood to pass before the greater rains descended. 



Though Pittsburgh had its worst flood on record, with a stage 7 

 feet higher than ever before known, the local contribution to the waters 

 was relatively small and in ice form. If the general temperatures 

 had been only a few degrees higher, the addition of the precipitation 

 that covered western Pennsylvania with ice or snow to the floodwaters 

 from the 5- to 7-inch rains near the crest of the Appalachians might 

 well have added several feet to this extraordinary visitation. The 

 trees in a north-to-south belt across western New York were devastated 

 by the ice storm ; and Buffalo was snowed in by an unprecedented fall, 

 to which was added a few days later another heavy snowstorm. 



New England above 2,000 feet was still deeply snow-covered when 

 the tropical wind and great rains burst upon the country on March 17; 



