CLIMATOLOGY OF NEBRASKA. 39 



August, there are almost daily thunder-showers. There is little 

 snowfall in winter, but when the hot weather approaches these 

 storms are almost constant. Every time it has been my fortune to 

 be there, every day there was a thunder-storm, and on some days 

 several. The morning sun would appear with wonderful clearness, 

 and the heat would become intense by two o'clock, and then in a few 

 minutes clouds would form and thunder peal. After the outpouring 

 of the clouds, which generally lasted from thirty minutes to an 

 hour, the clouds would vanish and the sun appear. Frequently 

 there was another thunder-shower during the early hours of the 

 night. 



The cause of these frequent showers appears to me to be this : 

 At the head of the Elkhorn and the Loups, and between these 

 rivers and the Niobrara, there are great numbers of small lakes 

 and ponds and sloughs. These are underlaid by an impervious 

 clayey stratum, so that the only escape possible for the waters is 

 by overflow and evaporation. Some drain into these rivers, but 

 many have no visible outlet. Near to and among these lakes are 

 the Sand Hills, already described. The sun shining on these hills 

 heats them up to an extreme degree, and necessarily also the at- 

 mosphere around and above them. I have experienced a tempera- 

 ture myself heie in the shade of i io° F., when the register at 

 Plattsmouth marked only from 85 to 90 F. The consequence is, 

 that the evaporation is enormous. The atmosphere becomes super- 

 saturated with moisture. The least fall now in temperature, pro- 

 duced by a change of wind or other cause, creates cloud, the play 

 of lightning and rainfall. My own experience in this region is not 

 a solitary one. Captain W. S. Stanton, of the Topographical En- 

 gineers of the U. S. A., had a similar experience. The " cattle 

 men " who have invaded that region testify to the same facts. 

 This region of showers covers the entire section occupied by both 

 lakes, sloughs, ponds, and sand hills. With the increasing moisture 

 all over the State, it will be interesting to note the changes as the 

 Sand Hills become more covered with grasses. The rainfall there 

 will then probably continue to increase, but will be more equally 

 distributed. 



Co?nparattve Estijnates with other Rcgio?is — Europe: — While 

 therefore many will admit that there is an abundance of rainfall 

 east of the 100th meridian, they still claim that west of that line it 

 is too dry for the successful production of anything but stock. 



