This gives as the percentage of correct predictions for the state: Mean.............. ................................ SEPTEMBER. 83.8 72.8 78.3 The month of September has not been marked by any striking peculiarity, although the late continuance of pleasant weather and delay of frosts have been noticeable and the heavy rains of certain localities have been unusual. PRECIPITATION. While the mean rainfall of the south-eastern portion of the state, for which we have records reaching back much earlier, has been only a little above the normal, a large area in the central part of the state and thence north-eastward, has received from five inches upwards, reaching in one locality the astonishing rainfall of twelve inches; the western portion of the state on the contrary has had very little, ranging down to less than an inch in the extreme west. The extremes, therefore, have been unusual. TEMPERATURE. The mean temperature has been almost exactly normal, the extremes not great, and the absence of frosts quite marked. This latter is partly due to the temperature having hardly fallen to the freezing point anywhere, and to the prevalence of cloudy skies, the number of cloudy days averaging seven and a half or nearly double the usual number for September. TABLES. The following are the mean temperatures, noon temperatures, and precipitations reported by various observers: The following are the highest and lowest temperatures by self-registering thermometers, and the mean humidity of the air: The following are the total number of miles traveled by the wind during the month, and the greatest and average velocity per hour: The average rain for the different sections of the state for September, 1887, is as follows: South Middle (four stations).. Inches. 5.82 1.36 0.78 5.10 3.04 3.22 Southeast (covering essentially what has heretofore been the "whole state as far as reporting).... State average by sections......... COMPARISON OF PAST SEPTEMBERS. The table shows the mean temperature, the noon temperature, and the number of days below 32° for the past ten Septembers in south-eastern Nebraska; they are found by averaging the numbers reported at the different stations. It also shows the highest temperature and the lowest recorded anywhere in the state by standard, self-registering thermometers. The following table shows the precipitation or depth in inches of rain and melted snow or hail, the number of days on which it fell, and the number of cloudy and of clear days. Days are counted cloudy when the sky is four-fifths overcast; clear when less than one-third. The last column shows the depth of snowfall during the month: The daily temperature and weather predictions of the Chief Signal Officer have been distributed by this service to the following stations, where flags have been displayed for the benefit of the public. The following are the number of failures (F), and of correct predictions (C), both as to temperature and weather: This gives, as the percentage of correct pedictions for the state: Weather... Mean....... OCTOBER. 70 0 68.5 69.8 The month of October, 1887, will be remembered as one of almost continuous pleasant weather, with clear skies and almost no rain or snow and no severe extremes of temperature, except in the northern part of the state. PRECIPITATION. The map of rainfall for October shows an almost continuous shade of color marking a rainfall of less than one inch; two narrow areas only, skirting the Missouri river, one north of the Platte and one in the south-eastern part of the state, are exceptions to this, the former having from one to two inches of rain. the latter a little over two inches. Snow is reported from only one locality, a slight fall having occurred on the 24th in the Republican valley. The rainfall for the month is less than any other October since 1878, being an average of 0.68 inches. The number of rainy days averaging 2.5, is also less than for any October since 1878. TEMPERATURE. The mean temperature of the month was 50°, which is about three degrees below the normal. At only a few stations has the thermometer risen above 850. the maximum for the state being 89.9 at Crete; we had higher maximums in 1879 and 1881, although the normal maximum is only about 85°. Över southern Nebraska the lowest temperature reached was about 16°, which is lower by about eight degrees than the thermometer usually falls in October, while in northern Nebraska the cold wave of the 25th gave minimum temperature nearly down to zero. The lowest was at Hay Springs, two degrees above zero. FLAG SERVICE. The daily weather predictions of the chief signal officer, which are distributed quite generally by this service to points over the state, have verified this month more than usual regularity; the percentage of correct predictions for weather have been a little over ninety-five; for temperature about seventy-one. TABLES. The following are the mean temperatures, noon temperatures, and precipitations reported by various observers: |