854 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXVIII, No. 9 
Table IV. — Comparison of mean monthly and annual precipitation in inches for 
various altitudes in the Wasatch Mountains a 
Stations 
January 
February 
March 
April 
May 
June 
July 
August 
! 
September 
October 
November 
December 
Average precipitation 
May to October 
Average annual pre¬ 
cipitation 
Salt Lake City (4,408 feet above 
sea level): 
Years of record, 1874-1920_ 
1.35 
1.47 
2.07 
2.01 
2.00 
0.81 
0. 52 0.77 
0.97 
1.54 
1. 37 
1.35 
6.61 
16.23 
Lower Mill Creek (4,959 feet 
above sea level): 
Years of record, 1914-1920_ 
2.46 2.18 
2.46 
2.35 
2.38 
1.10 
0.95 
o 
Or 
QO 
1. 75 
2.51 
1.77 
1.67 
9.27 
22.16 
Cottonwood Nursery (7,450 feet 
above sea level) 6 ... 
2. 52 
1.31 
1.42 
1. 60 
2.52 
3.28 
12. 65 
Silver Lake (8,700 feet above sea 
. 
level ) e ... 
5.4716.41 
1 
6.28 
4.39 
2. 56 
0.48 
1.05 
2.03 
3.17 
3.84 
2.93 
5.24 
13.13 
43.85 
° Data furnished by J. Cecil Alter either in manuscript or published form (1, 2). 
b Years of record are: May, 1916 and 1918; June, 1914-1919; July-October, 1914-1920. 
c Years of record are: January and February, 1907 and 1916-1922; March, 1916-1922; April and May, 
1916-1921; June, 1909 and 1916-1921; July, 1907, 1908, and 1915-1921; August, 1907, 1909, and 1915-1921; 
September and October, 1907-1909, and 1915-1921; November and December, 1915-1921. 
Fig. 1.—March of available soil moisture at depth of 6.12 inches and daily precipitation, Big 
Cottonwood watershed, central Utah, season of 1919 
(Seasonal averages shown by horizontal lines at left of graph) 
Very low summer precipitation and marked dryness of the surface soil charac¬ 
terize the Wasatch Mountain sites at low altitudes. At the Cottonwood Nursery 
June and July, with less than 1.5 inches, have the lowest average monthly pre¬ 
cipitation. August has only 1.60 inches. The meagerness of the rainfall is 
further reflected in the amount of available soil moisture. The changes in soil 
moisture and in evaporation were recorded in 1919 and 1920 on several typical 
