1872.] 149 (Mute, 
From Jan. 25 to Feb. 14, 1872. 
Average sunrise temperature at Black’s : : . 280°. 92 Fahr. 
a noon . Aas : eee cUCs On 
Maximum morning “ : : d : : 5 37° 
Minimum “a 3 4 : 5 - . 23° 
Maximum noon ss 2 : ; : 5 5) aie 
Minimum “ 3 : : ; : : - 34° 
Rainfall during period - 5 6 ; : 237 inches 
Snowfall ‘ 2 3 AS 
Three days rainy, 8 cloudy, 2 snowy, 10 bright and clear. 
January 24th, a terrible wind storm, coming from the north, the 
only direction in which a gale can enter this deep valley; bending and 
swaying the great pines two hundred feet hich, usually so unbending, 
like a field of wheat, and showering their cones about like hailstones. 
The struggle of the Upper Yosemite fall, considerably swelled by the 
melting snows, was very beautiful; the wind seemed to surround it 
with a vast whirlpool, which tore it and scattered it about like folds 
of white drapery, now and then laying bare the black rocks behind. 
In the afternoon, the whole column was suddenly arrested in its de- 
scent about midway; it was not blown upward or bent to either side 
_ but towered in mid air, widening at the base, and doubtless turned 
inward toward the rock; it remained in this shape about three min- 
utes, an irregular white cone, eight hundred feet high, stationary at 
the bottom, as if at the base the laws of gravitation had been sud- 
denly suspended; then all at once it resumed its usual appearance. 
The force of the wind, and the natural inward air current behind 
the fall, were so strong as to bend the whole volume of water and 
curl it backward and inward, giving to the eye the appearance above 
described. Grand as are the Yosemite waterfalls, the Yosemite air- 
falls and cascades, masters even of the waters, are still more grand 
and wonderful. 
This great storm produced no serious damage, prostrating only 
about a score of trees, breaking off many branches, and scattering the 
pine tassels and cedar plumes far and wide, and by this natural 
pruning exercising a beneficial influence upon the forests. 
Erroneous views prevail as to the severity of the winter climate in 
this valley. On February 14, 1872, frogs croaked at night in the 
meadow shallows; upon the warm slopes of the north wall young 
grasses were an inch high, the sterile aments of the alders were ripe, the 
cedars were sowing their pollen, the early willows pushing out their 
catkins, azalea buds opening, flies and moths sporting in the sunshine, 
and ants busy about their spring work. The contrast between the 
