162 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW
SNOW-GARLANDS
By W. J. HUMPHRETS
MAY 1935
Once in a “blue moon” trees and other objects are
decorated with snow-garlands-ropes of damp, or re-
frozen, snow several feet long, fast a t both ends and hang- ing in catenary loops in between. Snow draperies, that
is, pendant sheets and clinging masses of snow, or snow
and ice, fast a t one end and free a t the other, me far more common; they often hang over the eaves of a house when
a gentle thaw, especially one suppleniented by heating
beneath, causes the snow, or snow and under layer of ice, slowly to slide down the roof. A fine example of snow
drapery is shown on page 191, volume 118, 1915 of t,he
ScientiJic American.
Snow-garlands, however, as stated are fa,r rarer and more spectacular than snow draperies. Only four brief
accounts of them have come t,o my attention, and they only with the aid of the Weather Bureau’s resourceful
factician, Mr. C. F. Thlman. The earliest of these is by Hellmann who reports the.ir
occurrence the last week of February 1589, on the limbs of
trees in the Thiergarten of Berlin, a,nd christ,ens them “snow-garlands.” The second is by Assmaiin ?, a.nd
refers to the same occurrence-the one noted by Hellmann. The third, by Kassner 3, describes, with illustrations, snow-garlands that on February 1,1907, hung from ledges on the wall of a large brick building in Berlin. The
fourth, and latest, with illustrations t,aken at, the Cent8ral Meteorological Observatory of Japan on January 31,
1925 by S. Ohti, appeared in a Japanese publication; exact reference not known. One of the pictures (there
are three) is reproduced in “The Realm of tthe Bir” by
C. F. Talman, 1931.
Anyhow, the accounts of this phenorrienon appe,a.r t,o be
few and far between, so few indeed that the accompanying
reproductim of a photograph of an escept,ionally fine example of a snow-garland must be of general interest,.
This picture was taken by Mr. E. P. Gibson (esact date
not given), assistant city engineer, East Grnnd R,n.pids, Mich., who has kindly authorized it8s reproduction. He
says: “The ‘snow ro e’ was in suspension from t,mo
points on the railing spightly over 3 feet apart * * * the festoon was 7 to 8 inches thick in the center, thinning a t the points of suspension, and the width a t center of span I should estimate a t 6 to 7 inches. It formed upon
a 4-inch board which was the top of the railing.” He
I Mat. Zeit, 6, lZ0. 1889. 3 Das Wetter, 6, 132, 1889. a Das Wetter, 24, 141, 1907.
also says that during the day or two the garland was sagg-g and lengthening the temperature held to near the
meltmg point, with a1t)ernate brief intervals of thawing
and freezing.
But what is the
esplanat,ion of this holding of snow crystal to snow crystal in a continuous suspension bridge froin anchorage to
anchoragq? Nothing, we are told, is more impossible t’lian nialring a rope of sand; and yet of ic,e sand, that is, of snow c,rystals, Nature makes suspension bridges, or gar-
lmds, if we prefer art to engineering. How dJes she do it?
The fact that these garlands do not occur when the
snow is dry, but only when it is wet, from partial t,hawing, ru1e.s out, t,he suggestion that the snow crystals, or flakes,
cling to each other by irregularities on their sides and fiices, like so many prickly-burrs. But while one sug-
gested esplana.tion is thus removed another is so strongly
supported by the same facts as to compel it,s aweptance. This is, that the snow cryst,als, being wet, are strongly
drawn each to its adjacent neighbors, by the surface tension of a water film, and thus through film and flake
the whole snow-garland tenaciously held together from
end to end.
The following esperime.nts are convincing of this:
Take a lot of ung1aze.d bits of paper, 1 to 3 milliniete,rs
ncross, and roll them toge,ther to the size and shape of a cigarette and t,ry to suspend the c.olle.ction from its two ends witshout other support. Ilmiiediately it falls apart like the fable,d rope of sand. Roll them together again
and then put enough mnt’er on them to make them wet
through and through but not drippy. Now they nre
held together by the surface tension of water films and will hang nice.ly in a festoon supported at the two ends
only. And as it is wit,h the bits of paper so it is also with snow crystds. They fall apart when dry and cling
t.ogether when wet.
Obviously a wet!, sagging, snow-garland mRy be sub- je,c.te.d to below-freezing tempe,ratures, in which c.ase it then will maint8Gn it.s shape and posit,ion by virtue of
the t,ensile stre,ngth of cont,inuous ice, however porous it may be, and not through surface tension as before. In any case the garland is first formed of damp snow
whose flakes and particles are held together then, and
often for many hours thereafter, by the surface tension
of wat,er films.
Such are the fmts of observation.
ANALYSES OF RAINS AND SNOWS AT MOUNT VERNON, IOWA, 1934-35
By WILLARD A. KREHL and NICHOLAS KNIGHT
[Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa, June 19351
During the past several months we have continued the
analyses of rains and snows a t Mount Vernon, Iowa,
which have been made in the Cornell College chemical laboratories for about 25 years. Efforts have been made to secure accurate and trustworthy results.
Specimen 7, November 20, 1934, was precipitated during heavy thunder and lightning. Specimen 11, No-
vember 28, came after the wind had been in the east for
a number of days, and we found a rather unusual quantity
of NaC1. During a considerable period, precipitation occurred nt
frequent intervals, and our results show how frequent
storms purify the air.
In specimen 17, the sulphate was unusually high, a4
the snow fell during a period of extreme cold and the
people were burning considerable coal for fuel. We believe that burning coal, and in some. cases dust storms,
are the main sources of sulphate in the air.
The newspapers contained numerous reports of a severe dust storm on RiIarcJi 16, about t’he t,ime spec.imen
30 was precipitated. The analysis indicates t,hat the
dust did not reach t,his locality. The analyses usually show the effect of dust storms. The first thunder and
lightning of the season occurred during the precipitation
of specimen 31 on March 24.
Much dust, collect,ed in the p:tm at) the time of the
storm on Mag 1, 1935. He.:ivy t81iunder and lightning
ac.c.ompanic.d a portion of this storm.
AI together, we analyzed 40 spec.imens--28 of rain, and
12 of snow.
Monthly Weatha Review, May 1935
L
L
Snow-gariand (E. P. Gibson).
1 _____________ 2 .____________
3 __.__________
4 .___._----_--
5 __.____._____
6 ___._____..._
7 _______..____
8 _____________ 9 ..__.________
10 ._____._.___
11 ..______.___
12 __..__._____
June
June Sept. Oct. Nov. Nov. Nov.
NOV. Nov. Nov.
Nov.
Nov.
1 _____________ 2 .____________
3 __.__________
4 .___._----_--
5 __.____._____
6 ___._____..._
7 _______..____
8 _____________ 9 ..__.________
10 ._____._.___
11 ..______.___
12 __..__._____
June
June Sept. Oct. Nov. Nov. Nov.
NOV. Nov. Nov.
Nov.
Nov.
MAY 1935 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW 163
TABLE 1 .-Parts per million TABLE 2.-Poicnds per acre
-
Chlo. rine
-
Sul-
phate,
903
-
Alf. 81
moni,
-
Ohlo- rine
-
Free am- monic
-
Alf. am- monia
-
N in ni-
trate
-
N in
Ill-
trite N in nitrat N in nitrite
Sul-
phate,
503
Depth o rain or
snow l-l-
Inches
1 0.2
.4 1.11
1.2 1. 75 1. 15 1. w .95
1 .os 1.20
11.00
1 1.00
2. 5
1 4.00
1 2.00
1 2.00
J .4
2 2. 00
.35
1 .75
1.25
2 3.00
2 3.00
1 .4
2.00
2 4.00
1 .33
1 4.00
1 .25
1 .25
2 3.00 11.5
1. 4
11.1
1. 9
1 .55
1 .45
1 2.75 11.00
2 4.00
2 2.00
2.13 2.84
3.65 3.65 3.55 1.42 2. 13
1.42 4.97 2. 13
7. 10
2. 13
1.42 1.42
2.84
.oo 3.6 2. 13
2. 13
2. 13
2.84
4.97
2. 13
4.97
2. 13
2. a4 3.55
3.55 2.13 3.55 4. 26 2. 84
3.55 3.55 3.55 2. 13 4. 26
5. 68
3.56
3.55
0. 04
.a .72 .36 .16
.08
.16
.271
.04
.02
.04
. 00
.08
.24
.56 .112
,056 ,112
.!a .04
.056 .32 .113 .28
.2Y . 20
.36
.04 .136 .02 .16
.20
.96
.%
.16 .40
.%
.as ,112
. oa
0.32
. 11
.2Y .24
.20 .03 ,112
.20
.MI .72
.16
.20
.20
.56
.40
.80
.72
.7fi
.28
.56
.24
.04
.72
.72 .136
.si .36 .72 .112 1.98 .32
.36
.24
.20
. 056
.113 .113
.04 .O M
.a
0.8 .6
.4
.7
.1
. 13 .10 .os4 .47 .10 .10
. 00
.05 .03 ,0105
. 117 .05 .l l
.09 ,015
.loo .zoo . 110
.10
. 120
.05 .as5 .05 .05 .02
.a .M75 .05
.09 .10 ,045 .05 ,105
.10 .10
0.00
. 00
. 01 .03
.02
. 00
.02
,031 ,033 ,019 .014
,003
. OOfi
.012
.Ol ,029 ,012
,015
. 02
. 00 ,002
.003
,002
,081
. 00
. 00 ,015
. 00 ,015
,004
. 02s
,0075 .m .03 . 3.5
. 01 ,017 ,005 ,005
. 009
0.00
. 00 .00 .016
.00 .013
.m ,009 .009 .011 .007
.m
.0005
,0085
,005 .023 .011)3 ,009
.03
.005
. O O i
.12 ,015 ,014
.00 ,024
.0103
. 00 .14 ,007
. 01.5
. 00
. 00
.008S ,007
. 00
. on5
. 010
. on9
. no9
-
23
25 28 20
3
20 ia
30
0. oLI( .36
.096
.97 1. 29 .37 .50 .31
.09 .095 1.61 .72 .13 .l l .11
. 00 .33
. 17 .36
. lfi? ,283
. 135
.45
. as1 .22
.27
.202
.121 .135 ,243 .162
1.m7 .390 .Q .43 .53
. S68 1.86 ,816
. as.
0.001s
,0031 .02
. 0YS
.mi . 03 .M .02
,008
.Ml8
.Mu5 .0136
,006
. W6 ,009 ,0313 .012
,002
.ow . MU ,0023 .003 ,019 ,0102 ,011 ,021 .015
.021
.0022
,005
. (6109
,0091
,1005 .14 .032 .05
.m
,0257
. om
. n42
0.014.
.009! .007i
,065 .07S
.028
.043
,009 ,032 .036
.068 .01s ,043
,015
.03%
. W>SE ,029
. 03s
.O4S
.03?
.014
,002:
. OF855 .027
.0106
,043
.21
,041
. w2 ,113
. 01s
. 0%
.05 .0112 ,014 ,0112
. 0 2
. (1124
. ooa
.ios
0.036
.0054
.O l l
.19
.04
,034 .03
.02
,042
. w 5
.044 .00 .0045
.0009
.0004
. 01M
. w 5 ,004
,0073
. w“6 .0057 ,0114
. 0065 ,0090
. w 5 ,004
,0064
.W26 ,003
. m7
,0104
.0027 .017 .01
,025 .009
.0063 .0105
.0?3
.n52
1. 00
. 00 .0003 .005
.00 .005
. 00i
. 0009 ,032
,001
. OC(15
.0004
.0011
. 0011
.0006
.0016
. 00 .00011 ,00015 ,0014
,0055 .00
.oo .0011
.oil
. ooc? . 0002
,0016
.0004
,0027
, 0033 .34
,0013 ,0017
. WE5 ,00115
. ma
-.-...
_...._
. ooia
-
0. 00
. 00 .00 ,0044
.00
.0034
.002
.002
.002
.w25
. 0016
,0031 ,0005
,0006
. OOOS
,0009
,0003
.0001
,0017
,001.5
.000x
. Wl4
.0011
.0057 ,0011
. 00
,0006
.00
. m 4
,0031 .0017 .00
.oo ,001
. MMR6 ,00037 .OO
. oon2
. ooia
. ma
-
1 ___....._.___ June 22
2 ____.....____ June 2E
3 .___._.______ Sept. 2.S 4 ._.._._____._ Oct. 20
9 ...____._._.. Nov. 22
10 ..._._._._.. Nov. 28
11 ..._..._._.. Nov. 28
12 __._..._.___ Nov. 30
13 ____......__ Der. 3 14 ._.____.__._ Dec. 6 15 .__.._..__.. Der. 19
16 .....-.-.... Dee. 26
Dec.
DW. Dec. Dee. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan.
Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Mar. Mar. Mar. MW. Mar.
hlar. Apr. Apr.
E:; 2:; hray
June
1
3 19 6
26 9 10
12
lfi 19
15 8
10 7
24 27
13 3
20
!a 25 4
16
11
22
1
19 25
17 ...___..._.. Jan. 9 1R ...-........ Jan. 10
19 --.......... Jan. 12
?O .........-.- Jan. 16
31............ Jan. 19 32 ..._._._._._ Jan. 20
?3 __....._..__ Feh. S 2.1 ._._.....___ Feh. 15
25 .___......__ Feh. 32
36 .______.____ Feh. 25 37 _.__________ Mar. 4
28 .___________ Mar. 7
29 __._______._ Mar. 10 30 __..__._____ Mar. 16 31 __...__.._.. Mar. 24
~2 .. ._......__ I Mar. 27 33 .........-.. Apr. 11
34 .........--- -4pr. 22 3S .........--- May 1
36 ..........-. May 3
37 ...-.- ....- May 13
38 ._....._____ M a p 19 39 __......_... Mav 29
40 ............I Juni 2
1 Rain. 1 Rain. 2 snow. 2 snow.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
C . FITZHUGH TALMAN, in Chnrge of Library
Caldwell, Otis William, and Lundeen, Gerhard E.
Do you believe it? Garden City, N. Y. 1934. 307 p. illus. 205 cm. 1st ed. Bibliography: p. 3%-300. (Chap.
VIII. ‘I Proverbs and sayings regnrdinq weather and seasow., pp. 161-200.”)
Carvalho Andrea, Alvaro de, and Conte C. D’Ordaz, Jose M.
Brevas notaR para estudo da evaporay,in en1 Portii~al e cla buia
importancia para a agricultura. LislxJa. 1034. G i J .
illus. 25 cni. [Separctta c h “ TGcnica.”)
Dorno, C.
Das Iilima von Agra (Tessin). Eine dritte uncl letzte nieteoro-
1ogisch-I)hysikalisch-physioloqische Studie. Braunschweig. 1934. 56 p. tables, diagrs. 30 CIU.
Duperier, A.
Sobre las fluctuaciones del campo el6ctrico terrestre. Madrid. 1933. 10 p. figs. 24 cm. (Serv. met. espaiiol. SCr. A,
n6m. 2.)
Eredia, Filippo
La climatologia dell’ alta atinosfera. 11. p. n. d. 33 p.
33j5 cm. (Conf. integr. rtl Corso di Psicvfisio~ogia e Mecl. Aeron. svoltosi presso 1’Istituto hlerlico-Legale ‘‘ Beiiito
hlussolini” in Roma. 17 Febbrsio 1033-11.)
F h t o l i , Amilcare
Le pioggie della cittd di Tripoli. Tripoli. 1931. Anno XIII. 1’2 p. tables. disgr. 24>5 cm. (Estratto dal Boll. del R. Ufficio per i Servizi Agrari. Annu 111-Noveinlire 1934-
XIII-N. 11.)
Flora, S. D.
Icansas weather and its effects on crups. n. p. 11. d p 161-165. 2412 cm. (From Kansas acad. of bcienceu, Tranv
v. 37, 1034.)
RECENT ADDITIONS
The, following have been selec,ted from among t,he tibles
of hooks re.cently received as reprewnting those most
likely to be useful to Weather Bureau officials in their
meteorological work and st,udies:
Alexander, William H.
Drouths in Ohio. p. 7-9. 23 cni. (Engineering esperiiiient v. VI, no. 5 . station news, Ohio state univ., Columbus.
December 1934.)
Andrews, J.
.Rainfall reliability in Australia. 11. p. 1932. pp. 95-100. (Proc. Linnean socy. N. 8. Wales, v. lvil, illus. 25 cm. parts 1-2, 1932.)
Andrews, John, and Maze, W. H.
Seasonal incidence and concentrat,ion of rainfall in Aust.ralia. n. p. 1933. pp. 121-124. figs. 35 cni. (Pruc. Linnean
socy. N. S. Wales, v. lviii, parts 1-2, 1933.)
Some climatological aspects of aridity in their applics-
tion t o Australia. n. p. 1033. pp. 105-130. maps, tables. 24.16 cni. (Proc. Liiiiieaii socy. N. 8. Wales, v. Iviii, parts 1-2, 1933.)
Bowie, Edward Hall
Meteorological factors that determine forest-fire hazard in
Pacific countries. 11. p. n. d. pp. 1559-1664. diagr. 23:.6 cm.
Brooks, Donald Bane
(Fifth Pacific science congress.)
Psychromet.ric charts for high and low pressures. [Washing- 27 ton, U. s. Govt. print. OK., 1935.1
cm.
8 p. incl. charts.
(U. S. Bureau of standards ... misc. pubn. M 146.)