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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1979)
eAiAjns sqnp d|aq sieioads WBBmBKStm Stormy weather’s a way of life for Ags During the winter, precipitation occurs mainly when a cold front and a warm front meet. Griffiths said rain falls around Bryan-College Station on a fairly regular basis, but if it had to be nar rowed down to the two wettest months, they would be May and September. He said that Sep tember could be an excessively wet month if a hurricane is in the gulf, but normally May has more rainfall. Rainfall this year has been good By RHONDA WATTERS Battalion Staff Somethings in life are inevitable — like death, taxes, Monday mornings-and rain in Bryan- College Station. John Griffiths, who works for the State Climatology office at Texas A&M University, said rainfall is up 15 percent this year from the aver age for this area. Normally, Bryan-College Station averages 39 inches a year. Already this year the rainfall is up to about 45 inches. Although Aggies may think Col lege Station has more rain than almost anywhere else in Texas, this is not true. Rainfall totals in this area are in between the totals for West Texas and East Texas, right where they should be, Griffiths said. As one moves farther east in Texas, rainfall increases, with East Texas having by far the most amount of rain. Griffiths said rain in this area has two sources. In summer, precipitation is caused by moist air flowing off the Gulf of Mexico. As the air moves over the warm land, it rises, caus ing it to condense. Between June 27-July 1,1899, a storm centered over the Brazos River watershed dropped an aver age of 17 inches of rain over an area of 7,000 square miles. In Hearne, gauges overflowed at 24 inches and rain estimates were as high as 30 inches. This rain caused the worst flood of the Brazos River in Texas history. Between 30 and 35 lives were lost and property damage estimates were about $9 million. In December 1913, a severe rainstorm caused the second major Brazos River Flood. Although the storm, which formed over Central Texas and spread both southwest and notheast, had its worst flood ing outside of Brazos County, damage in the area was still exten sive. Overall, 177 lives were lost and there was about $8.5 million worth of damage. Texas holds the record for the greatest amount of rainfall in United States history during a con secutive 18-hour period. On Sept. 9, 1921, 36.4 inches of rain fell on Thrall in Williamson County. for the crops, Griffiths said. “Cotton is this area is doing extremely well.” The National Weather Service in Houston said the month of November should have rainfall ex ceeding the medium amounts and temperatures should be above av erage. However through January, there will be normal rainfall, with temperatures turning colder. Looking back into the history of Brazos County, rain has been re sponsible for taking the lives of over 100 people. Trying to stay dry is hard to do — if you need to get to class Dhntn hu I oo Rrtu ( e»«rhnpr Jr. CULPEPPER PLAZA JLittee ^ V' © Restaurant Authentic Mexican dishes preparea fresh daily the old fashioned way — DELICIOUS! Try our deluxe nachos, a delicious combination of seasoned beans, meat, cheese topped with jalapeno, sour cream and guacamole. (Orders to go) Hours 11-10 p.m. Tues.-Sun. Closed Mondays focus THE BATTALION Focus is published every Thursday as an entertainment section of The Battalion. Policy: Focus will accept any stories, drawings or photographs that are submitted for publication, al though the decision to publish lies solely with the editor. Pieces submitted, printed or not, will be re turned upon request. Deadline is 5 p.m. the Thursday before publication. Contributing to this issue were: Lee Roy Les- chper Jr., Lynn Blanco, Keith Taylor, Louie Arthur and Rhonda Watters. Editor: Beth Calhoun Assistant Editor: Doug Graham On the Cover: Bull riding is one of the most dangerous yet exciting events in a rodeo. This bull seems determined to unseat his rider, a participant in the All-Aggie Rodeo which was last Friday and Saturday nights. For a ring-side look at the rodeo, please turn to page 7. Photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr.