The Philosophy of the Weather. And a Guide to Its Changes - T. B. Butler

Under this trade during this month, and at the same posts, the fall of rain was as follows, compared with the mean:—

TABLE II.

	JANUARY.		FEBR’Y.		MARCH.		APRIL.		MAY.		JUNE.	JULY.
	1854.	Mean.	1854.	Mean.	1854.	Mean.	1854.	Mean.	1854.	Mean.	JUNE.	JULY.
Key West	1.77	2.86	2.55	1.38	0.51	4.21	2.99	1.55	3.14	2.58	4.54	3.45
Fort Myers	1.15	3.90	4.70	2.16	0.20	4.60	2.75	3.14	5.65	3.33	6.75	9.70
"Brooke	3.88	2.20	6.89	3.01	2.44	3.37	8.82	1.95	6.21	3.24	9.44	15.53
"Mead	1.30	1.07	2.21	1.01	1.85	1.64	3.19	1.78	10.51	5.34	7.24	8.55
"Pierce	3.55	4.45	3.40	2.72	1.05	3.01	7.00	3.85	5.70	4.27	6.63	4.97
"Barrancas	3.45	3.87	5.55	4.95	7.21	5.87	0.50	2.94	3.47	4.05	3.39	5.43
Mt. Vernon Ars’l	11.01	6.80	12.83	6.04	6.22	4.59	1.96	4.21	4.45	4.62	6.72	6.13
Baton Rouge	2.85	5.26	5.50	4.91	6.15	4.68	3.58	5.22	8.05	5.18	4.00	6.55
Fort Moultrie	3.80	2.39	2.84	2.33	0.25	4.06	2.20	1.75	3.70	4.08	4.20	5.69

It will be observed that in February the counter-trade and extra-tropical belt had moved up from Key West, and a drought, which sometimes intervenes between the concentrated counter-trade and the inter-tropical belt, appeared there in February and March. In April, the inter-tropical belt appeared at that point, and went on increasing till September. As the counter-trade commenced moving north in February, an increased precipitation above the mean commenced at all the more southern stations under the concentrated-trade—an earnest of that irregularity which followed, and marked the season as the most excessive of the century.

In March, the intervening drought appeared at the other posts on the peninsula, and also at Fort Moultrie, followed much more closely than usual, by the inter-tropical belt of rains. In April, the drought appeared at Fort Barrancas and Mount Vernon Arsenal (the wave of precipitation having moved to the west), and slightly in comparison at Baton Rouge.

If now we look at the condition of things, west and north of the curving line of concentrated trade, from Fort Brown, at the mouth of the Rio Grande, in South-western Texas, through that State, the Indian Territory, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, and Northern Pennsylvania, to the Atlantic, we find the thermometer every where in January below the mean. The following table will show this, and the precipitation for that month and February:—

TABLE III.

	JANUARY.		FEBRUARY.		MARCH.		Rain in January.	Rain in February.
	1854.	Mean.	1854.	Mean.	1854.	Mean.	Rain in January.	Rain in February.
Western Texas
Fort Brown	59.34	60.41	62.45	63.63	71.87	68.95	0.45	1.50
"Ewell	50.47	52.92	58.12	57.61	70.34	67.00	0.22	2.86
"Inge	47.24	49.46	56.04	55.39	67.54	62.63	0.20	2.15
Indian Territory
Fort Towson	36.32	43.14	49.29	45.97	59.55	53.40	1.01	2.00
Forts Gibson, Washita, and Arbuckle, in much the same proportions.
Arkansas
Fort Smith	33.92	40.18	47.01	43.89	57.01	51.58	1.37	2.05
Missouri
St. Louis Arsenal	25.47	31.44	36.66	33.43	46.10	42.30	0.65	2.40
Kentucky
Newport Barracks	31.75	34.04	39.60	36.94	46.74	45.46	3.20	5.30
Pennsylvania
Allegheny Arsenal	29.08	29.25	33.49	31.16	40.36	39.02	2.23	2.33
Delaware
Fort Delaware	32.38	33.67	34.56	35.84	43.18	42.90	2.30	5.45
New York Harbor
Fort Columbus	28.71	30.18	28.17	30.44	36.17	38.28	2.60	4.00

We find, also, from this and table first, that every where, except at Fort Brown, and upon the Atlantic coast, the temperature had risen above the mean in February.

The situation of the belt which supplied the western coast in winter, and its excess of precipitation, are also represented upon the cut. The intervening area was not without counter-trade and precipitation—the latter, of course, greatest over the area of intensity—but they were comparatively less, as the tables will show.