Franklin County 



305 



CLIMATE AND RAINFALL 



The climatological records for Franklin County are taken from 

 the Gabriels station, which has an elevation of 1,750 feet. 



Average dates for the last killing frost in spring and the first 

 in fall are June 4 and September 24, respectively, giving a grow- 

 ing season of 91 days. The records have been taken on 

 the grounds of the sanitarium conducted by the Sisters of Mercy. 



The following table summarizes records covering the period 

 1900 to 1918: 



Records of Temperature and Precipitation at Gabriels 



January. . 

 February . 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August . . . 

 September 

 October. . 

 November 

 December . 



Year . 



Temperature 



Aver- 

 age 



14.4 

 12.4 

 24 4 

 39.0 

 51.3 

 58.8 

 64.3 

 61.5 

 54.9 

 45.3 

 30.7 



18.0 

 39.6 



Highest 

 maximum 



Degree3 



62 

 76 

 82 

 85 

 94 

 94 

 96 

 94 



70 

 56 



96 



Year 



1906 

 1903 

 1903 

 1913 

 1911 

 1907 

 1911 

 1916 

 1913 

 1909 

 1909 

 1911 



1911 



Lowest 

 minimum 



Degrees 



—46 



—38 



—22 



2 



10 



22 



30 



27 



IS 



2 



—13 



—42 



-^6 



Year 



1904 



1914 



1916* 



1914 



1903 



1905 



1909 



1909 



1904 



1903 



1917 



1917 



1904 



Precipitation 



Average 

 inches 



2.55 

 2.35 

 2.61 

 2.41 

 3.23 

 3.57 

 3.84 

 3.70 

 3.38 

 3.15 

 2.76 

 2.44 



35.99 



Amount in 2-4 

 hours 



Greatest 



record, 



inches 



1.48 

 2.60 

 2.27 

 1.80 



2.60 



Year 



1910 

 1916 

 1913 

 1918 

 1916 

 1901 

 1913 

 1903 

 1917 

 1904 

 1900 

 1901 



1904 



Snow, 

 average 



depth 

 in inches 



19.3 



19.7 



14.9 



6.6 



1.5 



0.9 



16.2 

 18.4 



97.5 



* Also earlier years. 



TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS 



The surface of Franklin County is mostly level in the north, 

 undulating and hilly in the center, and broken and mountainous 

 in the south, the general slope being toward the north. Mt. Sew- 

 ard, in the southeastern part, 5,100 feet above tide, is the highest 

 peak. The plateau in the center and the valleys of the southern 

 part of the county have an elevation of about 1,600 feet above tide. 



The county is mostly drained by tributaries of the St. Law- 

 rence. In the southern wilderness are numerous lakes, some of 

 which are several miles in extent, so located that only slight 

 improvements are needed to connect them, and thus form a com- 



