Storm Continues Breaking Records

If it is any consolation to the Cambridge citizen as he faces his fifth consecutive day of rain, the current storm may well break a rainfall record for the month of January. It has been the wettest January in the history of Boston so far.

The storm is responsible for a rainfall of 5.5 inches, as of 7:30 last night, and a monthly rainfall of 6.14 inches. It began on Sunday at about 11:00 a.m., and is already threatening January storm duration records. It shows no immediate signs of ending.

The wettest January recorded was in 1936 when 8.41 inches fell. The storm to date has already exceeded the average monthly rainfall of 4.12 inches. Last year at this time only 0.81 inches had fallen.

In a preview of his radio talk tonight at 6:45, Charles S. Brooks, professor of Meteorology and director of the Blue Hill Observatory, described the extent of the current storm. It stretches from northern Maine and Labrador south to Cape Hatteras and North Carolina, and west as far as Chicago.

Brooks would not predict the storm's duration but said that it would "very possibly" last beyond tonight. The Logan Airport Forecast Room, which predicted a dispersal two nights ago, has now suspended forecast on the duration of this storm.

The high-low pressure area extending over more than 1,750 miles of Atlantic coastline shows a 2 1/2 inch barometric pressure difference between northern and southern extremes. The local average temperature has fallen two degrees a day and cold air is forming in northern New England, but the storm which previously showed signs of moving has now resettled and is stationary.