Page:Eastern North Carolina Encyclopedia.djvu/30



Jones County is located in Eastern North Carolina. The Atlantic is only 35 miles away and the Gulf Stream only 75 miles. Think what this means to our climate! The average annual mean temperature for 33 years has been 62 degrees. January, the coldest month, has had an annual mean temperature of 46 degrees and July, the hottest month, an average of 79 degrees. The annual precipitation for the county averages 50 inches. The largest monthly amount, 7.5 inches, occurs in July and the least, 2.62 inches comes in November. The rainfall is heaviest in summer when crops need it most, with 21 inches from June to August, and the least in autumn, with 11.5 inches from September to November.

The annual average number of days with 0.01 inches or more precipitation is 109. The average annual snowfall is four inches. Some winters pass without snow, and the heaviest amounts received seldom remain on the ground more than one or two days.

The growing seasons are long. The average date of the first killing frost is November 6th, and the earliest date on record is October 10th. Some years there is very little frost before Christmas. The average date of the latest killing frost in the spring is April 3rd, and the latest date of killing frost has been April 26th.

The chief industry of the county is farming, Twenty-Four