Old Missoula

Year Without Zero Goes Into History [1925]

Missoula Favored Spot in United States; Record Is Established

At the stroke of midnight when the old year passed out of existence and 1925 became a memory, it marked the passing of perhaps the first year in history that western Montana was without a zero weather mark.

However, there has been freezing weather during the old year with the mercury dropping a few degrees below freezing, but it has been a long way from the zero mark.

The winter of 1924-1925 started in with a bang on December 15. Missoula was greeted with a cold wave that made everyone shiver, for the drop in temperature at this time was about 65 degrees. The cold snap hung on for almost the rest of the month and during that time the thermometer dropped to 19 below. The force of the cold wave had spent itself by the 28^th of the month and there has been no zero weather since.

That was the last cantankerous grouch that Old Man Weather has shown. He gave Missoula a merry chase in late September and October, when early snows and many prophecies of a hard winter were visited upon the city. But in November the skies cleared, and the climate for the rest of the time has been such as to be the envy of many who went to southern climes to avoid what had been expected would be severe cold.

All in all Missoula has had the “horse laugh” on the rest of the United States during the whole year of 1925. It has not been too warm, as it gets in the southern states, and Missoula has not suffered with her sister cities of the north temperate zone with zero weather.

The above article appeared in The Daily Missoulian on January 1, 1926.

Another interesting article appeared in the same newspaper the following day (January 2) – the warm weather had its drawbacks:

Fort Missoula Notes

Ice Harvest Doubtful

Storage of ice for the needs of the station during the coming summer is seriously threatened by continued warm weather. The Garden city has been blessed with above zero weather for over a year now. If the same is to continue, putting us in the same class as southern California, army regulations will necessarily require changing to provide ice for the station. Under present regulations there is not adequate provision made for the purchase of ice and approximately 800 tons per year are required for the needs of the station.

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