74 
THE SCIENTIST. 
For the Scientist. 
Cloud-Burst in Arizona. 
By John D. Parker, U. S. A. 
A remarkable cloud-burst ocurred last 
July, about seven miles west of Fort 
Bowie. The day was clear and sultry, 
and the circular storm came without 
warning. 
Mr. Henry Fitch occupies a ranch near 
the Dos Oabezas range, where the cloud- 
burst' broke over the mountains into 
Sulphur Spring Valley. He was at home 
that day, and took timely and careful 
observations of the storm. It passed 
directl}'^ in front of his house, which 
stands on higher ground, but the water 
rose rapidly within a few feet of his 
front gate. The storm occurred about 
three o'clock in the afternoon; a strange 
roaring in the mountains first attracting 
his attention. Looking toward the range, 
he saw dense clouds passing over the 
peaks, which here rise about two thou- 
sand feet above the valley. There seem- 
ed to be three strata of clouds, superim- 
posed on each other. The lower stratum 
was red, the middle stratum black and 
the upper stratum blue. He thinks the 
lower stratum was composed ot dust and 
debris of the storm, and the middle sti-a- 
tum of water. There was a fearful com- 
motion among the clouds, and a terrible 
roaring and grinding In the funnel, prob- 
ably of rocks, which were hurled down 
the mountain side in vast masses, and 
scattered over the valley, along the path 
of the storm, for two or three miles. 
There was a sudden condensation (>f 
vapor, and an immense outpouring of 
water, and the wind seemed to be irre- 
sistable. Large trees growing on the 
mountain's side; pine, oak and walnut, 
from one to two feet in diameter,were torn 
up b}^ their roots, and hurled bodily down 
the mountain into the valley. He says 
there was a wall of water fifteen feet in 
height, and thirty rods wide, that swept 
down the valley toward the south-east, 
carrying everything before it. It washed 
down great quantities of corded wood 
into the valley, scattering it for miles, 
and ranchers, living along the path of 
the storm, have been using this wood 
ever since for fuel. Fortunately, the fun- 
nel passed by his house without injuring 
it, but there was a sheet of water left in 
front of his house four hundred feet 
wide, and in some places thirty feet deep. 
Pipes conveying water to his house, froui 
a spring about a mile distant, were wash- 
ed out for about five hundred feet. Two 
wells in the path of the storm, one lifty 
feet deep, were entirely filled up by the 
boulders, so that thej^ could sc;ircely be 
found again. 
The flood divided, about a mile down 
the valley, and passed on both sides of a 
house occupied by Mrs. Reese, whicli 
was located on higher ground. The 
cloud-burst was followed by a heavy rain- 
fall, for nearly two hours, and water 
kept running in the gulch from the 
mountains for three days. The next day, 
Mr.Fitch rode on horseback, twelve miles 
down the valley to Mr. Kigg's ranch, and 
his horse waded through water more 
than three miles of the way. 
Dr. Charles Wilcox, Surgeon at Foi-t 
Bowie, and a lady, w^ere about four miles 
down the vallej'-, taking a hoise-back 
ride. As soon as they saw the storm, 
they rode at full speed towards the 
mountains, and escaped the funnel, but 
the general storm overtook them and 
gave them a thorough drenching. He 
thinks the storm was about a quarter of 
a mile in diameter, and he saw very viv- 
id lightning playing through it. The 
doctor noticed a few hailstones during 
the storm. 
Mrs. Major McGregor, with her chil- 
dren, was making a little pleasure trip 
that day in Sulphur Spring Valley. AVhen 
the cloud-burst poured over the moun- 
tains, they were about three miles down 
