Cloudburst and Flood at Tyringham, in the Berkshire
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cloudburst and flood at Tyringham, in the Berkshire Hills, of western Massachusetts, on the afternoon of June 30, 1928, during the passage of a marked trough of low pressure. The strong southerly wind on the front of this trough had brought muggy air from tropical waters during the preceding 36 hours. The Berkshire Eagle says: The cloudburst Saturday struck East Mountain close by the center of the town. It descended the steep slopes, leaving them bare. It swelled quiet, peaceful brooks to mighty raging torrents, tore roads to pieces, wrecked a large stock barn and flooded the center of town. The lives of two women were imperilled when their automobile was caught in the rush of water down through the village. Mr. Nesbitt H. Bangs, of Stockbridge, which is five miles southwest of Tyringham, writes that an extraordinary series of local storms was responsible for this cloudburst. Four successive storms formed almost in the same spot, a few miles southeast of Stockbridge and moved SW- NE all afternoon. About 6 p. m. another storm formed two or three miles to the west of Stockbridge, Lenox, six miles north of Stockbridge. apparently getting the center of it. Only 0.09 inch fell at Mr. Bangs' house on the margin of the storm, while enough rain to make pools fell on the golf course three-quarter miles to the northwest. At Lenox there was 4.30 inches of rain from this storm. "It was this storm, joining with storm No. 4 over Tyringham that brought the cloudburst," said Mr. Bangs. "I have no way of telling what the rainfall here was, but it must have been terrific—as the valley here is no narrow cleft, and the surrounding hills are not bare, but heavily grown with woods, and everything was swept down—trees, underbrush and grass-covered fields." NEWS REPORTS OF JULY WEATHER Independence Day served up "4th of July weather" with a vengeance. High temperatures, and severe thunderstorms took their toll of lives by heat-stroke, drowning, lightning deaths and automobile accidents. On July 3, the first hot day, 9 were drowned in New England, and 2 died of the heat in Boston, and 2; in New York. On July 4th, 5 died of heat in New England, and 1 in New Jersey. Two severe thundersqualls north of Boston capsized 9 boats, drowning three persons, while lightning in- jured 6. The wind and deluges did extensive damage ashore, and gen- erally discomfited half a million people at the beaches. About New York City thundersqualls and hailstorms routed 3 million people at the shores, overturned airplanes, stopped an auto race, ruined a yacht race, blew down trees and wires, and flooded streets. A number of people in capsized boats were unaccounted for. Near McKeesport, Pa., one man was drowned and 12 were missing owing to floods and landslides at- tending a cloudburst. Many automobiles were destroyed when washed Geogr. Rev., July, 1928. away by the flood waters or caught in landslides. A nationwide (A.P.) summary of casualties on the 4th, included 106 drowned, 54 killed in auto accidents, 12 killed by the heat, and several more by lightning. From abroad, came reports of the favorable and unfavorable flying weather along Ferrarin and Delprete's route from Rome to Brazil, July 3-5; good weather for the Mediterranean portion being countered later by fog, adverse winds, rain and even hail. Hot air was met at 400 meters near Algiers, where the temperature rose to 95° F. Fog over the sea at Cape Gata, low clouds and disturbed air at Punta, Almira, and continuous clouds below 1000 meters over the coast bathed by the chilly Canaries current, south to Cape Juby marked their progress along the African coast. Crossing the belt of Doldrums the aviators had first to avoid low clouds, then higher ones which could not be flown over even at .3500 meters. "From 11 o'clock at night to 2 o'clock in the morning we were obliged to navigate long stretches amid the clouds. The air was much disturbed and conditions were extremely difficult." Near the Equator, south of the belt of rains at; this season the sky was serene, and the prolongation of the southeast trades, from the south-southwest, hin- dered their progress. On the coast of South America, where the south- east trades in midwinter were rising over the land, low-hanging clouds and rain made visibility so low that the flight had to end at Tauros. A list of 54 attempts to fly over the Atlantic or Pacific, 28 of which were successful, was published in the N. Y. Times, July 7 and 8. Severe local storms in Germany, that killed 20 people, July 5 and 6, did not prevent Risticz and Zimmerman from breaking the sustained flight record just made by the Rome to Brazil fliers. They ran into a cloudburst and electrical storm that for a time threatened to end the flight. Daily fog in the Arctic continued to hinder the rescue attempts in connection with the Italia expedition. A heavy winter storm on the coast of isouth Chile claimed the lives of nearly 300 when it threw the S.S. Angamos on shore in the Bay of Arauco. The hot wave of early July resumed its onslaughts in the eastern United States, Sunday, July 8, causing three deaths in New York from the heat, and a general exodus from the city, estimated at between 2,- 000,000 and <3,000,000 people. There were an unusual number of drown- ings. In the Mid-west rains concluded the hot period, after 30 deaths from heat had occurred. From Cedar Rapids, la., came reports that "a million dollar rain" had saved the corn crop. At Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., "almost a midnight darkness fell [at 2 P. M.] a couple of minutes before one of the most severe wind storms ever known" there. Heavy rain fol- lowed. A blanket of snow, from a storm lasting four hours was reported from the Sank Lake area of the Medicine Bow National Forest of Wy- oming. Monday, the 9th, was hotter still in the East, the heat being re- sponsible for 6 deaths in New York City, one upstate, and two deaths in Washington. The life-saving east wind came to the rescue in Boston after a 4 A. M. temperature of 80. One more person died of the heat in St. Louis, and three in Chicago, while three others drowned. "Warm air .