As in the case of a tornado, no forecast can he made of the approaching hailstorm.
An ice storm occurs when rain falls on surfaces cold enough to freeze the rain. These are often called "sleet storms," but the Weather Bureau uses the term sleet only for precipitation which falls in the form of frozen raindrops, and thus reaches the ground. An ice storm may occur when weather colder than freezing is followed by rain, and the rain is then frozen to the cold surfaces. Or, the ice storm may come during the latter part of a long-continued rainstorm with the temperature falling so rapidly that exposed surfaces, such as poles, wires, trees, shrubs, grass blades, stubble, and weeds radiate their heat so rapidly that they reach freezing temperature an hour or two before the ground or water freezes, and before the rain ceases or turns into snow.
On January 30, 1916, an ice storm prevailed over portions of Illinois. The writer traveled across the area of ice formation from East St. Louis to Springfield. A heavy rain had been falling for several hours. The temperature began to fall. At 8:00 A.M., when the train left East St. Louis, a thin coating of ice was forming on the trees and shrubs. Soon the ice was observed on the telegraph and telephone wires. Trees, weeds, and wheat plants were incrusted in ice. The wet ground and pools of water were not yet frozen, but plants projecting above the water were completely covered with ice. By 9:30 the rain had ceased. Slender twigs and their incrustations were from three to six times the diameter of the twigs alone. Wires were loaded with a thick coat of solid ice and with innumerable icicles 3 or 4 inches in length. Strong poles carrying as many as fifty wires were brought to the ground. For several miles, in the center of the ice storm, telegraph and telephone poles were down or leaning heavily. Railroad switching devices were so thickly ice-covered that they were operated with great difficulty. The heaviest ice observed was from Godfrey in Madison County to Brighton in Macoupin County, but the ice storm was severe along the route of the journey from East St. Louis to Spring field. North of Springfield the ice formations grew rapidly less in amount, and no indications of an ice storm were found at Bloomington.
An ideal climate.—Whether a climate is ideal or not depends on what we mean by "ideal." For rest and recreation a warm equable climate is doubtless most delight ful; for a fishing or climbing trip something quite different is desirable. l'ur most people the really essential thing in life is the ordinary work of every day. Hence, the climate which is best for work may, in the long run, claim to be the most ideal. At least it is the one which people will ulti mately choose in the largest numbers.1 A progressive people as measured by modern standards cannot develop in the warm equable climate of the tropics, nor in the rigorous cold of the polar regions. Human progress has been achieved most largely in middle latitudes where climatic conditions permit and require careful and systematic tilling of the soil during the growing season of summer to provide food and clothing sufficient for the entire year, which includes the long, unproductive season of winter. Within this temperate belt, energetic and pro gressive nations have occupied with large populations all those regions having favorable climatic conditions.
Illinois lies in the midst of one of the most extensive of these favored lands. The warm growing season of 5 to 7 months gives op portunity to mature the great staple food crops year after year without extensive frost damage. The normal annual rainfall with proper distribution during the growing and ripening seasons is favorable for the production of maximum crops. The constant winds of moderate velocity carry moisture and give an invigorating atmosphere. The daily and seasonal changes of weather stimulate human activity in all lines of endeavor. Human energy and human progress are greatest in those regions of the earth where there are striking but not extreme differences between winter and summer; where weather changes from day to day are marked, but not violent; where stormy weather comes at frequent intervals, alternating with clear, dry weather. Judged by these standards Illinois stands second to none in her invigorating "ideal climate." 1 Ellsworth Huntington, Civilization and Climate.