dfather iWeather Station
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w. *
Says 3\priln Snowiest' Month
K Mr be balmy where you an
MV. M M wr IUi time
there waq now la the North Caro
lina Blue Bidfte Mountains
Aa a matter of (act. the official
U. ft Weather Bureau's reporting
atatloa atop mile hifth Grandfath
er Mountain reported 1J inches of
»dow during April of laat year.
And April lad all other months in
•now-productioo
The Grandfather Mountain Waa
thar Station recently completed Ha
tint full year of operation and
pravldad weather information
heretofore not available to (ore
casters The station was installed
by Frank Hood, meterologiet in
Charge of the Ashevilla bureau
near the (uramit of the 8,884 foot
mountain, the highest peak in the
Blue Ridge.
How ia the weather at that ele
vation T
The warmest day in 1888 was
June 28 when temperature roae to
78 degrees.
The coldest day was January •
when the instruments showed one
below rero.
The greatest amount of rainfall
in a single day waa 3.29 inches on
October 22. Total rainfall for a
year was 54.40 inches with the
greatest amounts in October (10.13
inchea) and July 7.98 inches).
April beaded the months In
snowfall with ita IS inches, follow
ed by January with 10.S inches,
February with 10 inches and
March with nine inches.
The last froet in the spring came
on June 3 when Grandfather re
corded an unseasonable below
freezing minimum of 31 degrees.
The first frost came on September
10 with a 38 degree temperature.
Although the warmest tempera
ture of the year was the recorded
78 degrees oh June 28, August was
thf warmest month with an aver
age minimum of 13.0 degrees. Feb
ruary followed with 28.8 degrees.
The winds atop Grandfather
Mountain in wintertime have long
been talked about. Oldtimers have
spoken of 100 mile per hour winds,
but there was no verification until
the Weather Station was put into
service.
The record for the year came
on February 28 when winds esti
mated at 100 miles per hour blew
across the Mile High Swinging
Bridge.
On that date weather observer
Joe Lee Hartley, Jr.'reported that
the wheels of his p.ckup truck
spun in place as he drove his vehi
cle against the gusts. He was
forced to back his truck off the
parking area at Grandfather
Mountain for fear of being over
turned should the winds hit the
truck broadside. He reported he,
was "trapped" in his truck. Each
time he tried to get out of the
truck, the winds swept him off his
feet and he could not make it to
the Weather Station.
Grandfather Mountain's highest
Baxter Candill'
, H v •
Dies In Denver
Baxter CaudlU, 48. formerly of
Bluff City, Tenn., died recently in
Denver, Col, where he bad reaid
ad for a number at year*.
Mr. Caudill was a son of Ben E.
Candill and Sarah Hayaea Caudill,
former Wataugans.
Funeral aervieea were held at
Chinquapin Grove BapUit Church
near Brlatol, Tenn Rev. a U
Slagle officiated and burial waa in
Vanover cemetery.
He i« survived by hia step
mother, Mrs. Lillie CaudillP Bluff i
City; five brothers, Paul Caudill, I
Rome, Ga„ Spencer Caudill,
Wayne, Mich., Herbert Caudill,
Greeneville, Tenn., and Raymond
and Everett Caudill, both of Bluff
City.
Six slaters, Mrs. Charlotte Slagle
and Mrs. Herbert Watson, both of
Bluff City, Mrs. Ed Penley, Kings
port, Tenn., Mrs. Bob Hodge,
Johnson City, Tenn., Mrs. Helen
Marion, Baltimore, Md., and Mrs.
John T. Adams, Marlon, N. C., al
so survive.
Health Office .
Closes Friday
The Health Department office
will be closed this Friday, May
10th, in observance of Confeder
atee Memorial Day. •
winds -were actually recorded,
however, by instruments on Janu
ary 7 and April 8. Gales of 70
miles per hour were recorded.
On January 17 the weather in
struments were blown down and
knocked out of commission by the
high winds.
Weatherman Hood, who says the
station ia providing highly valu
able information which ia dis
tributed throughout the nation,
hopes to obtain special equipment
for the Grandfather Mountain
similar to the equipment now in
use on top of Mount Washington in
New England. Only then can wind
velocity be definitely determined,
since Grandfather's anemometer
haa blown out of commisaion each
time the wind has reached an esti
mated velocity of 80 miles per
hour.
The information gathered at the
Grandfather Mountain station is
not only available to the U. S.
Weather Bureau, but ia available
to the public over the weather
news wires of United Press and
Associated Press.