AUGUST, 1916. MONTHLY WE ATIIE R RE VIEW. Gulf States and in small areas in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Michi an, and West Virginia. Many other sections from the Pfains States eastward had moclerate amounts, yet inters eised in nearly every region were small areas with less t R an 3 inches of precipitation, while a large section cxtending from central Texas to northern Kansas had less than 1 inch during the entire month. lprom thc Roc.ky Mountains westward, except in portions of northern Idaho and Montnna, there i m s less than hdf nn inch of precipitation, and in considerable portions of central and southern California rain was entirely absent t t ~ usual. RELATIVE HUMIDITY. For the month, as a whole, the relative humidity east of the Mississip i River was generally above the normal, tion of the Middle Atlantic States, where it was below thc average. Likewise the month was relatiTely damper than usual in the northern border States west of tho Mississip i River and froiii the Kockg Mountain reeion westwurx save in Wyoming and portions of Idaho, &erc: it was drier. In the Centrnl aiid Southern Plains States, tho relative humidity for the month averaged consider- ably below the normal. Much of this aren of cleticient relative humidity also experienced unusunlly hot, dry, weather throughout the month, which was rendcred iiiorc bearable because of the low huinidity which obtained, and few heat prostrations were reported. 1 xcept in Flori dp a, the Lake Region, and the southern por- GENERAL SUMMARP. The weather for August, 1916, was characterized by continuous hot weather in much of the interior of the country east of the ltocky Mountains during the first two decades, but the closing days of the month showed a marked contrast to t'liis condition. The nionth was unusual1 dry in Okltihoma, Iianuas, Iowa, and portions of the a4oining States, which resulted in niuch damage to growing crops, especially to corn, but at the same time afforded an opportunity for harvesting and thrashing the small grain crops and for haying. Froin the Elocky Mountains westward the weathcr for the month pre- sented no unusual features, escept .that in the north Pacific Coast States, especially Washington, August wily an unusually dry month. SEVERE STORMS. The following notes of severe storms have been es- tracted from reports by officials of the Weather Eurt:au: Tems.-A tro ical storm of great intensity p ~s e d inland over the P ower Texas coast between Brownsville estiniated property damage of $1 ,600,000. Much open cotton was beaten to the ground and immense dttniage was done to dwellings, churches, w-indmillu, itiid other structures. The towns of C!orpuv Christi, Kingsville, and Bishop were perhaps the greatest sufferers, but frame houses were damaged and windmills blown down as far north as Montell, Uvalile County. Utuh.-A tornado occurred on the Sevier River, August 5. (See detailed account on p. 459.) Average creeumdaated departureelor August, 1916. I Temperature. I Preclpitstion. Cloudiness. ! I -- 1- I-- New England ..__ _. . . ./ Middle Atlantic.. . . . .i South Allantlr.. . . . . .! Florida Peninsula.. . _; Easl C.iIIf .... ... .__._. \vast Gulf ... . .. ...... Ohio Valley and Ten- 1 nessre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vpper Lakes.. . . ._. . .I Nnrth Uakota.. . . . . . .I >fisslssippi I dlev.. . . . . . . . . . . . . !dissniiii \'alley ... . . . .( Northern slnpe.. . . . . .I Middle slope. _. . . . . . . . Sout hrrii slope. ._ . . . . . Soiitherii I'btasu.. . . . hl iddlr I'lal eau . . . . . . . , Northern 1;lxteau.. . . . North b*lfia.. . . . . _. . .I Middle i'wlfic. __. . . . .I South I'wific.. . . . . . . . I I Lower Lakes.. . . . . . . . i I - __.-. - - -. _- __ __ 487 -- Relative humidity. 3 . B u a " -- P. et. 81 -1 75 -1 81 -1 7s -1 79 -1 73 -a 15 +3 gs -3 73 -a i o -6 71 +1 69 +a 58 +6 (io +1 fAl -1 50 +8 40 +7 43 0 76 +n 61 -6 I +2 I WEATHEX CONDITIONS ON THE NORTH ATLANTIC DURING) AUGUST, 1815. The data presented are for August., 1015, and compari- so11 and study of the same sliould he in connection with t.liose appearing in the REVIEW for that month. Chart I S (s L I Y -~~) shows for August, 3915. the aver- ages of pressure. tcniper:iture, and the prevailing direc- tion nf the wind at 7 a. m., '75th nieritlian time (Green- wich Menn Noon), together with the locations ant1 courses of the iiiore SCVAI'C storms of the month. PRESSVRE. The werage pressure for the month, as shown on Chart IS, W'BS remsrkuhle for its T W A ~ gradients, and lack of any well-developrd HIGHS or LOWS. Rhile the Azores HIGH is sl~own 011 C h r t IS :is near its usual position it was of less ii1tensit.y and of greater cstent than usual. 'rllC area usually occupied by the continental HIGH mas corerell by R coinl,arat,ircly unifor~ii pressure of about 30 inches. The Icelnndic LOW was npparen t.ly shallow, although the center w-ns too far north to come within the limits of the clinrt. The nwan monthly barometric read- ings ranged from %.S6 inches in the waters adjacent to tlie Scandinavian Pcninsula to 30.14 inches in the vicinit of the Azores, a variation considerably less than norma{ iilthou~h tlie range in average pressure was unusually small the variation from day to day in some localities was quite inarkcd. North of thc 50th pariilld and west of the 30th nieridinn the pressure was considerably above the nionthly average during the first two and last three tlitys of the month; it wns lower than usual froiii t,hc 5th to the Stli, aiid about the average durin the reinainiiig 25 (lays. Over t.lie northeastern part o tlie ocean t.liere were marked negative pressure depar- tures during the first nnd last. decades of the month, while between t,he 30th and 50th pardlels the variations from the normal were coinpara tirely small during those f 488 MONTHLY '(7TEATHER REVIEW. AUGUST, 1916 periods. The West Indian hurricane t,hnt prevailed in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of hlexico froin August 10 to 17 was responsible for low pressures in t,he iI>llilt>tli:lt,e vicinity of the 1iiiiit.ed sborm areas, nlthough t,he !noiit~llly averages were affected but little., being but slight,ly below the normal in that territory. GALES. The northern waters were reniarlcably frec from winds of gale force, and north of the 50th para.llr1 t,lic:; nv- curred on only one day, in t.hree 5' squn.res. Off t,lic coast of France ales were report,etl on t.he let nntl 31, the 20th and 30th parallels there were none report,etl durin the month. The West Indiiln hurricane in the the number of gales occurring in that t,erritory. Thry were reported in different 5' squares on from one to thrw days, the 1att.er nuniber being somewhat ithove the nor- mal. From August 1 to 3 a LOW (shown as Track 11, Chart IS, for July, SLIV-84) was centrtil nenr t,he Irish Channel. On August 4 this had moved about 10' east- ward and was fast filling in, 30 that no sign of it esistcd on the 5th. From August 3 to 10 a low nrea prevailed between the 40th and 55th parallels nnd the 20th and 40th meridians, the movement from day t.0 day bein slow and irregular. On August 4 the barometer hnc fallen to 29.59 inches from 29.80 inches on the 3d, and on the 5th and 6t,h t,he lowest rendinn were approsi- mately 29.35 inches, the center on tyiese days being near latitude 48O N., longitude :37O W. Light t.0 moder- ate winds prevailed during the great.er part of the period, althou h on the 6th winds of 40 miles an hour had moved about 5 O in ai1 east-north-east direction, t.hc barometer fallin to 29.28 inches, and although the twea were reported. On the Sth the depression had moved slightly toward the west; the pressure had chan ed but, had increased somewhat. The LOW then moved about loo in an easterly direction, and on the 9th w v ~s central near latitude 51' N., lon itude 26' W. It had increased definite outline, althou h the force of the wind renittined north, and on the 10th was near latitude 5 5 O N., longitude 27O W., tlie conditions of wind and weather liitving chan ed but little since the previous day. It then beem to fil in and by the 11th had practically disa pearecr On the 10th a LOW central near the Bnrbac os mrtrkctl the beginning of the severe West Indinn liurrictme t.hnt This storm (brack 1 on Chnrt was fully discussed b Prof. H. C. Frankenfield in a WEATHER KEVIEW for Au .ust, 1915. The positions of plotted froni the d d y synoptic charts from the loth to the 17th, while froni the 18th to the 23cl t,he were copied August, 1915 (M. W. R., XLIII--86). The int.ense clinr- the remainder o B the month being free., while lwtw\'ec.n Carib Q ean Sea mcl Gulf of Mexico caused an increase in 7 were reported % y t-hree vesseL9. By August 7 the center of low pressure ! ad decreased in extent no heavy minds little since the previous day and the velocity of t a e wind somewhat in intensity an if the isobars hnd assumed a more about the same. The % epression then moved t o w d the f f revailed until the 23d. special bulletin on the su z ject a.nd also in t,he &hrrHrdT this st,onn as shown on 5 hart IX of t,his issue wrre from Chart 111, the tracks of centers of f ow areas for. acter of t.his hurricane, as shown hy its steep barometric gradients, was s)wcially notictddp on tbe 17t.h, when the 8 a. 111. l )a r o i ~~e t ~~ reudiiig fit 1Io1wt.o\ll Tex., \WY 28.72 inrhes; ti,i Galvcst.on, '.res., ScJ.13 inrhes; and in the Gulf of M'iL1silier Bureau shtions on the dt.ltintic* niid Gulf coast,s WPW as follows: F. -1.4 4-1.0 +-0. Y -1.5 -2 .4 -1.0 -1,s - 0. 5 F. Snrtolk, Va.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1.3 Hatipme, N. i'...__..._... +1.7 h2rldon. S. ( ' __ __ .. . . . -. +l. 7 Key West.? Na-. .... . . .. .. . +O.7 T'i~newda, FIX. . . - . . . . . . . . +O.? Ncw (Jrleaiis. La.-. ..... __ . +1.7 W \~r s t ~,l 1 . 'res.. . . . . . . . . . . -1.3 Cbrpns ( hriuti. Tes.. ... . . - +1.7 The lowest temperat.urc! reported during the. month was 4ti°F.t orcurring on the 7t.h, Sth, nnd 9t.11, in the 5'- scpire hetween h.t.it,udiIs 55-60' N. and longitudes 40-45' W. The highest, toinperature in t,liis s uare was 56'F., nnil occurred on a nuiii1)er of dnj-s in t 1 le last decade of t.he rr.ont.11. The est,reme inoiit,lily range of t>eniperature was, as a nilc. small, the estrenie range for unp 5'-square being 10 dLp awees. AUGUST, 1916. MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. FOQ. Durin- the period from 1901 to 1906 for the month of August %e average percentage of days with fog off the banks of Newfoundland was froni 40 to 45, while in the same region for August, 1915, fog was observed on from 7 to 10 days, with a percentawe of from 23 to 33. Tne aniount in the vicinity of &ntuckct. Island was also somewhat below the normal; east c f the 40th meridian along the northern steamer routes, the percriii age was never higher thnn 6, while the normal varies from 5 to IO. PRECIPITATIOIL’. lzro hail or snow was reported during tlic inonth. Maximum wind velocities dtlring A i i q u d t , 1916. [Velocities below 50 nil./hour (22.4 m./sec.\ we not included.] -- -- ........... l b l 1:io Tex.. .... Evansvhe hid.. .I Jncksonvil~e Fla..i MoLile! Ah.. ..... Mount Tanialpnis. I El I’aso’l’ex ...... ~miis~il!e, ky .... cnl .............. 1’0.. .......... l.‘O.. .......... 110 ............ 1 0 ............ 110 ............ C. se. Re. SW. S. nw. ne. nm. nw. n w. nw. \v . UW. I I ....... Norfolk \‘a I~naacdla Fla.. .. P o i n t k e y e s Lig-ht, Cal ....... Po.:. ......... T’o ........... .( San Al!tonio. TRX. li:ind hev kln .... Snn JiiiUi,’l’. R ... I 0 ............ Sioux 1 ity, Iowa.. Po.. .......... Sv-mcuse K. Y.... Wesliingion. r). c.1 489 - Dl- tion. nw. nw. nw. nw . ne. ne. S R - XB. se. sw. W. sw. nw. -