USA > Kansas > Sedgwick County > History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas, past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county, Vol. II > Part 14
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The warmest month was July, 1901, its mean temperature being 6.4° above the normal. During the same month the maxi- mum temperatures ranged between 99° and 104° daily from the
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7th to the 17th and from the 21st to the 24th, and there were thirteen dates on which the thermometer registered 100° or above.
February, 1899, was the coldest month, having a mean tem- perature of 21.2°, or 11.8° below the normal. It was during this month that the longest period of extremely cold weather was recorded, the daily minimum temperatures being near or below zero from the 1st to the 6th and from the 11th to the 15th. March, 1906, is the coldest month of the name since the record began, the mean temperature of 34.2° being 9.9° below the nor- mal and 3.6° below the previous lowest record in 1891; March, 1907, averaged 20.4° higher than in 1907, with a maximum tem- perature of 92° on the 22d, the highest March maximum on rec- ord. This was followed by the coldest April on record, with an average temperature of 50.0°, or 6.6° below normal, and also the coldest May on record, with a mean of 59.1°, or 6.8° below normal.
The highest maximum temperature for the station was 106.4°, on August 17, 1909. The maximum temperatures have risen to 90° or above on an average of 47 days per year, and to 100° or above on an average of four days per year.
The lowest minimum temperature ever recorded was 22° below zero, on February 12, 1899. The temperatures have fallen to 32° or lower on an average of 99 days annually, and to zero or lower on an average of three days annually. Since the record began there have been but ten dates on which the temperatures have fallen to 10° below zero or lower.
Mean annual precipitation, 31.04 inches.
Seasonal precipitation : Winter, 2.88 inches; spring, 9.58 inches ; summer, 11.83 inches ; autumn, 6.75 inches. Total average during the crop season, March 1 to September 30, inclusive, 24.24 inches.
Greatest annual precipitation, 39.46 inches, in 1898; least, 18.19, in 1893. Greatest monthly, 10.33 inches, in May, 1902; least monthly, several traces too small to measure, in March, 1910; in November, 1894, the amount was but 0.01. Greatest during any 24 consecutive hours, 4.74 inches, on November 12-13, 1909; other heavy rains fell as follows: 4.32 inches, on August 26-27, 1908; 3.98 inches, on May 31, 1908. Greatest excessive rainfall at a rate of 1 inch per hour and over, 2.87 inches, on August 22-23, 1889.
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Mean annual snowfall, 14.3 inches. Greatest annual, 25.6 inches, in 1892; least annual, 0.8 inch, in 1908. Greatest monthly amount, 13.9 inches, in December, 1892. The heaviest snowstorm that ever occurred in this vicinity since the record began pre- vailed on March 8-9, 1909, when 12.0 inches of snow fell; at 12 noon there was still a depth of 10 inches of snow on the ground. Latest date in spring that snow was recorded, May 5, 1905, the only time in May that snow was recorded; earliest in autumn, October 12, 1893.
Average number of days annually with 0.01 or more of pre- cipitation, 87; with 0.04 inch or more, 66; 0.25 inch or more, 27; 1.00 inch or more, 6. Average number of thunderstorms annually, 51.
Mean annual relative humidity, 69 per cent.
Average number of clear days annually, 168; partly cloudy, 115; cloudy, 82. Normal sunshine, 63 per cent; greatest, 75 per cent, during September; least, 54 per cent, during November ; average during the winter, 60 per cent; average during the- summer, 69 per cent.
The latest killing frost in spring on record occurred on May 15, 1907, with a minimum temperature of 33° in the city; earliest date on which the first killing frost in autumn occurred, Sep- tember 23, 1895. Average date of last killing frost in spring, April 8; first in autumn, October 19. Number of days between average spring and autumn killing frosts, 194.
During the period December to March, inclusive, the prevail- ing winds are from the north; during the remainder of the year, generally from the south.
Mean annual wind movement, 80,812 miles, or an average hourly velocity of 9.2 miles. Greatest wind movement during any one month, 10,957 miles, during April, 1909, or 15.2 miles per hour ; least, 4,009 miles, during August, 1894, or 5.4 miles per hours. Greatest wind movement during any one year, 99,560 miles, in 1909; least, 74,347 miles, in 1905. The highest maximum velocity for a five-minute period ever recorded was 62 miles per hour, from the northwest, on January 29, 1909.
Miscellaneous phenomena: Total number of days with dense fog since 1888, 197; hail, 74; solar halos, 71; lunar halos, 82. The only aurora ever observed was a light reddish glow in the northeast between 8 and 9 p. m., February 13, 1892.
The annual rise in the Arkansas river, due to the melting
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snows in the Rocky mountains, usually begins during the last week in May or the first week in June, and the waters seldom, if ever, cause much damage. During the past five years the highest stage was 6.0 feet, in June, 1905, and there has been practically no water in the river during the summers of the past few years. On account of the unusually heavy rains over the drainage area of the lower Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers during the early part of July, 1904, a large portion of Wichita was under water from the 6th to the 14th of that month. The highest gauge readings were 10.1 and 10.2 feet, on the 8th and 9th, respectively, and water flowed across Douglas avenue at Topeka avenue, and across Main at Second street between the 7th and 13th. Aside from interruption of mercantile pursuits and the inconveniences due to lack of aquatic facilities, no serious damage was done. Early reports state that Wichita was under water during May 18, 19 and 20, 1877, when the stage is reported as 11 feet.
Wichita has never been visited by a tornado. What is known as the Goddard tornado was observed in the southwest from the buildings of the city during the late afternoon of May 26, 1903. The funnel cloud first touched the ground when in a position some three miles west of Goddard, about twelve miles west, in this county, and moved in a north-northeasterly direction, dis- appearing in the north near Valley Center. There was no loss of life.
SO-CALLED CHANGE OF CLIMATE. Relative Stability of Climate.
The atmosphere, in constant motion over land and water sur- faces, expanding and contracting with heat and cold, absorbing moisture in one region to precipitate it in another, and swirling into the valleys and over the mountain ranges of the earth, resolves the peculiarities of its lower levels into a general average that we call climate. It gives marine climates to oceans and contiguous territory, and continental climates to the great interiors.
Climates originated in the adjustment of the primitive atmos- phere to the ancient geological surfaces during the early period of world making, and climatic changes have been as numerous as the epochs in geological history. But these changes occurred in
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such multiples of ages ago that the lapse of time must be meas- ured in thousands or in millions of years. If the ancient ances- tors of the mound builders could be aroused from their slumbers their medicine men would relate a hoary legend to the effect that the waters of the southern seas once tossed over the western plains and the great Southwest and washed the feet of the Rockies. It is said that Greenland, in the process of construc- tion of the earth's crust, is rising at the rate of one foot per century. No climatologist, however, has had the hardihood to assert that any appreciable change in the climate there could be detected at the end of the longest lifetime, or even at the close of a millenium. In all the years since the time of Aristotle, the sage and scientific observer who flourished about 2,300 years ago, there has been no record of a permanent change of climate in any part of the known world.
1 SUPERIORITY OF SCIENTIFIC RECORDS OVER MEMORY IN MATTERS OF CLIMATE.
Notwithstanding these and the vast volumes of other evidences that have been published from time to time, nearly every com- munity contains a few individuals that are repeatedly affirming that changes have taken place for better or worse during the past twenty, thirty or forty years. How can they know when they are compelled to rely upon recollection ? But the man with $1,000 to invest in farm land and the bank that assists him to carry a larger proposition are unwilling to accept recollection as collateral and come to the Weather Bureau for proof. In such a case, the Weather Bureau, after carefully investigating the records, makes a statement that climates do not perceptibly change, warning the prospective investor and his financial backer that they should have complete knowledge of the climatic con- ditions that will likely surround the locality in question. We know that the meteorological records of the world, covering sev- eral hundreds of years, show recurring periods of dry and wet weather, ranging from periods of ten or eleven years to still greater stretches of thirty-five or thirty-seven years, followed by periods of contrary conditions.
When such a statement is made, however, there arises a host in protest, without record, relying upon memory, uppermost in which is the abnormal of bygone times, and reaffirming that the
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climate has changed permanently. Here and there will be found a man that declares that a correct statement by government officials hurts his business. We answer, "How about the man with $1,000 to invest and the banker behind him?" Everybody knows that memory is defective.
A casual comparison of the values in the rainfall diagram under the heading "Climatology of Wichita and Sedgwick County," and the tables that have been prepared giving vari- ations in precipitation, wind velocity and relative humidity, will plainly show that it is wholly beyond the capacity of the brain to retain details of weather without record.
INSIGNIFICANCE OF MAN'S INFLUENCE UPON CLIMATE.
Western Asia, northern Africa and portions of North America were called deserts in remote ages, and we still believe they will continue deserts during the vast periods of time to come. The Chaldeans, ancient Persians, Ninevites and Egyptians exerted untold effort in producing verdure that succeeding peoples have allowed to disappear before the blistering desolation. Geological evidence shows that extensive forests once flourished in these regions, and remains of highly creditable irrigating works have lately been discovered in the Arizona desert. But man's efforts did not change the climate in these regions; when his efforts ceased, the desert reoccupied the territory which had for a time yielded to his needs.
The earth's atmosphere is pressed down by gravity so that about one-half of its mass is confined below an elevationn of 18,000 or 19,000 feet above sea level, although its total depth is 100 miles or more. Practically all life is propagated in this lower strata of the atmosphere, and, while the upper half moves constantly from west to east, the lower half flows in great eddies or whirls, called anti-cyclones, having wind directions with the hands of a watch, and cyclones having wind directions contrary to the hands of a watch. The former are attended by cold or colder weather and the latter by warm or warmer weather, the thermal changes bringing about hot and cold waves, with storms of rain, hail, sleet or snow, according to the season and the intensity of the changes. These eddies of the lower atmosphere carry the dust from the lands to the upper regions, whence it is sometimes wafted vast distances. South American dust has been
4
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found in Africa. The volcanic dusts from the crater of Kra- katoa, Sumatra, in 1883, were distributed through the atmos- phere of the earth by the winds, resulting in the great sunset glows noted in all countries in 1883, 1884 and 1885.
If we can imagine a great cyclone affecting the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific, over an area of 3,000,000 square miles, such as the great storm of 1889, originated by intermingling of masses of warm air from the equator and cold air from the north, and which cover a greater extent of the earth's surface than the territory of the United States, and then imagine the influence of any plains state lying in the pathway of such a dis- turbance, we can then understand that a whole series of states, much less the man with his plow, is unable to control climate. The great semi-arid West is contending against stupendous forces in the form of great air currents that are charged with billions of tons of moisture and dust before they come within a thousand miles of the middle West. Each state contributes its proportion of dust and moisture to the geenral air mass as it proceeds east- ward, and these are carried away with the speed of the winds blowing at the time. It is evident, then, that the cultivation and forestation of the dry regions of the West, even though they had proceeded much farther than they have, could not change the climate.
It is hardly necessary to more than mention such authorities as Prof. F. M. Ball, of the University of Minnesota, Prof. W. M. Davis, of Harvard, Dr. Julius Hann, professor of cosmical physics, University of Vienna, editor of the "Austrian Meteorological Journal" and author of "Handbook of Climatology," and Prof. Willis L. Moore, who has been chief of the U. S. Weather Bureau during the past sixteen years. Prof. Moore says : "Our people want the truth, so that they may not be misled by those who honestly, but nevertheless ignorantly, claim that hot winds and drouths will never come again; or by those who, when periods of deficient rainfall come,'as they have in the past and as they certainly will in the future, preach discouragement and the aban- donment of lands which, on the average of a long period of years, it would be profitable to cultivate." Dr. Hann says : "The United States seem to offer the most favorable conditions for answering the question as to the extent to which increasing cultivation of large districts of country may result in change of climate. In the East there has been an extraordinary decrease
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* * in territory formerly covered by forests; while, on the other hand, a good deal of planting has been done in the western prairies and plateaus. No corresponding change in temperature or in precipitation has, however, thus far been demonstrable."
QUANTITY OF MOISTURE.
The eastward drift of all storms and the increasing elevations eastward from the Mississippi river have made it possible for extensive forests to flourish in that region. But the vast area under the lee of the Rocky mountains receives its moisture from the far western storms after they have precipitated much of their water content on the higher elevations before they can be replenished by the moisture laden winds from the Gulf of Mexico.
The buffalo grass, eking out its living on an inch or two of parched plain, was too dry to produce dew, except well toward morning, and then only under the most favorable conditions. The imported species of grasses, planted in deep-plowed soil, go down and bring up conserved moisture for their sustenance, throwing their whole bodies to the air and presenting cool surfaces for the deposition of dew while the flattened bodies of their cousin are stunted from lack of moisture.
So the grass has spread, and orchard and shade trees have outstripped their suffering brethren on the dry run. The shack of the pioneer gave way to a comfortable home as he made head- way against his difficulties. The receptive surface of the newly cultivated farm allowed the moisture to percolate into what was once a sun-baked desert. At the spot upon which each leaf fell from the trees the evaporation ceased in proportion as it had gone on untrammeled before. The rigors of climate have been over- come by man, and the last twenty-five years have inclosed numer- ous plains cities in copses of trees surrounded by some of the most valuable farm lands in the world.
It is the man that has changed, not the climate, and the face of nature has changed with efforts far exceeding those of the early eastern pioneers. The western man that has observed the wilderness blossom as the rose -decries his own power when he charges to the account of change of climate the blessings result- ing from his own initiative. It required more than the buzzing of the drones while the climate was changing to make orchards,
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meadows, grain fields and vineyards in Kansas, Oklahoma, Colo- rado, Nebraska and the Dakotas. Perseverance placed the city of Denver on the site of the Indian tepee in the valley of the upper Platte, and "change of climate" did not plant Salt Lake City in the deserts of Utah.
The present-day western cornfield is not like its grandfather of thirty years ago and not like the present-day cornfields of the Ohio valley states. The difference is due simply to the fact that the latter region receives ten to fifteen inches more rainfall annually than in the semi-arid West, where the agriculturalist has learned to govern his cultivation according to this deficiency. Thirty years ago there was no system of dry farming. As the old sod plow and the wood-tooth rake have given way to modern farming implements, so have the vast majority of farmers dis- carded antiquated methods for those best suited to the climatic surroundings.
Therefore, we do not say that the western country will revert to its former condition as a buffalo range, and that the hardships and isolation of the pioneers will come again. Perish the thought! But we are forced to say that dry seasons will inevi- tably recur in the semi-arid states, just as they have occurred even in the East, where abundant rainfall may reasonably be expected.
Drouths, hot winds and high temperatures are not impossible in any section at any time. Francis Parkman says that during the summer and fall of 1764, at the time of Pontiac's War, a great drouth prevailed over the region north of the Ohio river, and British soldiers suffered great hardships in navigating the streams. Yet the settler had not then had much chance with his ax, and the lands were covered with an interminable forest.
Prof. Alfred J. Henry, in "Climatology of the United States," says :
"The greatest drouth this country has experienced in the last 100 years, both as to intensity and extent of territory cov- ered, culminated in the middle Mississippi and Missouri valleys in 1894, and in the lake region and Atlantic coast districts in 1895. The drouth of 1894 was the culmination of a period of deficient precipitation and high temperatures that began during the early summer of 1893. The subsoil from which the surface soil, by capillarity, draws a portion of its moisture, had become
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appreciably desiccated, and the way was open to a disastrous drouth should the spring and summer rains fail."
In September, 1908, the Susquehanna river was lower than it had been in more than 100 years, and instances were published of boys playing ball in the bed of the upper Ohio. A list pub- lished in connection with this great dry period enumerates twenty- three drouths, ranging from 23 to 123 days, that were experienced in some parts of the eastern states between 1621 and 1876.
In the middle states, as well as the entire region between the Rocky mountains and the Mississippi river north of Texas, the great hot wave of July, 1901, broke all records in many sections, the temperatures ranging from 109° to 116° in the shade. These figures were published by the Weather Bureau at the time and clearly show that abnormally high temperatures or hot winds are not confined to any particular locality.
In looking over the published reports we find that heavy rains and floods occurred in some portion of the plains states in 1785, 1811, 1826, 1844, 1845, 1851, 1877, 1903, 1904, 1907, 1908 and 1909. At Fort Leavenworth, Kan., during the three months of June, July and August, 1844, nearly 29 inches of rain fell, while the normal is only 31 inches. In June, 1845, over 15 inches fell at the same station, and in May, June, July and August, 1851, nearly 27 inches were measured. The great floods of 1903, 1904, 1907 and 1908 from the Missouri river watershed and adjacent slopes were undoubtedly more disastrous than former inundations on account of the vast quantity of valuable property involved. The old settlers state, and the records show, that the early pioneers suffered nearly as much from floods as they did from drouth, and that a very large proportion of the heavy rains rushed over the hard surfaces into the runways, inundating what little culti- vated ground there was in the bottoms. While floods still occur, a very much greater percentage of the heavy rains is conserved in the largely increased acreage of cultivated lands, not only in the valleys, but also on the open prairies.
TEMPERATURE.
French records dating into the fourteenth century show noth- ing more than periodic variations in temperature. During the 100 years, 1775-1875, the average vintage date at Aubonne was ten days earlier than during the preceding two centuries, and
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now it is the same as in the sixteenth century. Similar data at Dijon show a range in the vintage date of not over five days, October 25-30. The mean temperatures of stations scattered over the entire world show warm periods during the past century as follows : 1791-1805, 1821-1835 and 1851-1870, with cool periods between the series. The variations in climatic temperatures for the whole world do not range more than 1º on either side of the true mean, and the same relative values will apply to the United States, with a somewhat more pronounced change in the plains states. In Kansas, the range from the 21-year normal is -1º to +2°; Oklahoma, 15-year normal, -1° to +2° ; Nebraska, 32-year normal, -2° to +3°; South Dakota, 18-year normal. - 3° to +4°; North Dakota, -2° to +3º.
With few exceptions, March, 1906, was the coldest March in the middle plains states for forty years; and March, 1907, the warmest, followed in April and May by the most disastrous series of killing frosts ever experienced by orchardists. January, 1907, was the coldest January in Montana and the Dakotas in fourteen to seventeen years. Records for the past 122 years at Boston show but five Februarys colder than February, 1907. Several well-known citizens of Wichita traveled 1,700 miles from snow in Kansas to witness the first snowstorm in fifty years in the City of Mexico during the winter of 1907. Records at Fort Leaven- worth since 1832 show a minimum of -30°, and minima of -10° to -29º, according to latitude, have not been at all uncommon in the plains states within the last forty years. The great North American cold waves over the eastern slopes of the Rocky moun- tains still maintain their old-time vigor in season. As a particu- lar instance, on March 2, 1904, the temperature at Wichita fell from 80° at 5 p. m. to 12° above zero the following morning. The dwellers on the steppes of Russia still experience similar rapid and widespread changes in temperature in season.
CONCLUSION.
We are led to the conclusion that the so-called changes in climate have been nothing more than irregular oscillations; that a succession of dry years has given way to recurring wet years ; that there are alternating series of warm and cool years; that thus far there are imperfect seasons of maximum winds attending low-latitude storm movements, with turns to minimum winds
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attending high-latitude storm movements; that drouths and floods are possible in any part of the country at any time, winter or summer, and that it is beyond the power of memory even to chronicle the abnormal in weather, without considering its appli- cation to climate.
Wichita, Kan., May 1, 1910.
THE WEATHER BUREAU.
Wichita likes things that are right up to the minute. In this respect nothing is excepted, not even the weather. Kansas weather is a rather unstable creature with many curious turns and rapid changes. Hence it is not at all easy to keep right up to the times as regards clouds, sunshine, precipitation, dews, frosts and humidity.
Yet Wichita manages to keep well alongside of Kansas weather. Indeed, Wichita very frequently runs ahead of old Dame Nature and makes ready for whatever sort of temperature and conditions the old lady brings along when she visits this section.
In keeping even with or just a little ahead of Kansas weather, Wichita is very ably assisted by Richard H. Sullivan, govern- ment weather forecaster for Wichita and vicinity. Mr. Sullivan knows all the tricks of the wind currents, the clouds, storms and calms. He views them with the eye of an expert from the top of the Murdock-Caldwell building every morning and then sends out bulletins announcing his findings to the people of the city.
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