Agreeable to a register kept at Council Bluffs during the month of January, 1820, the highest and lowest temperature at that place were, respectively, 36° and 22°, the month giving a mean of 17.89. Compared with the observed temperature, for the same month, at the following positions in the United States, both east and west of the Alleghanies, the Missouri Valley reveals the fact of its being adapted to the purposes of a profitable agriculture.[ [264]
| Mean temperature of the month. | Highest. | Lowest. | |
| Council Bluffs | 17.89° | 36° | 22° |
| Wooster | 16.69 | 36 | zero |
| Zanesville | 25.34 | 42 | zero |
| Marietta | 28.42 | 45 | zero |
| Chillicothe | 32.48 | 48 | 10 |
| Cincinnati | 28.76 | 46 | 11 |
| Jeffersonville | 23.05 | 50 | 6 |
| Shawneetown | 32.91 | 52 | 8 |
| Huntsville | 36.43 | 62 | 12 |
| Tuscaloosa | 46.63 | 74 | 17 |
| Cahaba | 65.87 | 73 | 54 |
| Ouachita | 34.16 | 68 | 10 |
| New Orleans | 52.16 | 78 | 25 |
| Portsmouth, N. H. | 19.31 | 40 | 4[ [265] |
| Washington City | 29.19 | 45 | 4 |
| Council Bluffs, | lat. | 41° | 45´, | long. | 19° | 50´ | W. of the capitol. |
| New Orleans, | " | 29 | 57 | " | 12 | 53 | W." |
| Portsmouth, | " | 43 | 05 | " | 6 | 10 | E. " |
| Difference of lat. | 13° | 48´. | Difference of long. 26°. |
Nor does it appear that the same quantity of snow falls in the Missouri Valley which is common east of the Alleghany Mountains. At the Council Bluffs, on the last of January, snow was but twelve inches deep; at the same period, it was three feet or more throughout the Eastern States.
A snow-storm fell over the middle and eastern latitudes of the United States, for the first time, during the autumn of the year (1820), in the first half of November. As a precursor to this, slight drifts and gusts of snow had showed themselves at Albany on the 25th, 26th, and 28th of October.[ [266]
"Montreal, Canada, October 28, 1820.—On Wednesday last we had the first fall of snow this season. It commenced in the forenoon, and continued slightly during the remainder of the day. Although expected to disappear, the frosts in the nights have been pretty severe, and a considerable quantity still remains (Saturday) at the moment we are writing."
"Salem, N. Y. October 31.—On Saturday last (27th), we had our first snow for the season. It fell during most of the forenoon, and for an hour or two the atmosphere was quite filled with it. Some cool and shaded spots still remain whitened, though yesterday was one of our pleasant autumnal days, with a mild west wind."
Early Sleighing.—The Burlington (Vt.) Sentinel of the 27th ult. says: "On Tuesday night and Wednesday, the snow fell in this place about eight inches deep on the level. It is said to be twelve inches deep in some of the adjoining towns."—October, 1820.
At Philadelphia, it began on Saturday, 11th (morning), snow-storm from the east, and continued all day. At night a hurricane, accompanied by torrents of rain and snow, which did not subside until the 12th in the morning. Weather unsettled on the 13th.
At Worcester, a severe snow-storm, from northeast, on the 11th and 12th. On the 13th, snow was ten inches deep, the weather cold, and sleighing good.