HOMICIDE AND WEATHER
ALEX D. POKORNY M.D.1, and
FRED DAVIS B.A.2
1 Chief, Psychiatry and Neurology Service, VA Hospital, Houston, Texas.
2 Senior Medical Student, Baylor Univ. College of Medicine.
The 106 homicides occurring in Houston in 1960, in which the time of occurrence could be established, were studied in terms of weather conditions at such times. Eleven weather variables were studied on an hour-by-hour basis for the entire year (temperature, wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, relative humidity, visibility, ceiling height, rain, fog, thunderstorms, and cloudiness). The distribution for all hours of the year was obtained, and this was compared with the distribution for the hours during which homicides occurred. No single significant relationship was found. The 28 northerly fronts of 1960 were not found to be associated with any change in homicide rates. Month and season likewise showed no significant relationship. It is concluded that homicide is not significantly related to weather phenomena.
