The climate of the Pacific Slope west of the Cascade Mountains is
tempered by the Pacific Ocean, the “Japan current” and the equable
southwesterly winds. The climate resembles that of Western Europe rather
than that of the American Continent east of the Rocky Mountains. Tacoma
is four degrees further south than London, in about the same latitude
as Nantes, the chief city of Brittany, near the mouth of the Loire. The
climate of Puget Sound is warmer in winter and cooler in summer than that
of Southern England, and is the most equable, salubrious and delightful
to be found in the United States.
[Illustration: Eleventh Street at Pacific Avenue.]
TACOMA’S winters are open, the grass is green and flowers bloom out of
doors every month in the year. Last winter the temperature fell below the
freezing point (32° above zero, Fahrenheit), on one day in November, six
days in December, three days in January, five days in February and eight
days in March. The minimum temperature on the coldest day in November was
28° above zero; in December, 29°; in January, 26°; in February, 23°; and
in March, 29°. It would be more accurate to speak of the “winter” months
as the “rainy season,” for one-half of the annual precipitation, which
amounted to 45.11 inches in 1903, an amount slightly above the average
rainfall, fell during the three months of January, November and December.
TACOMA has little snow and no ice. Cyclones or furious winds, in this
peculiarly sheltered region between the Olympics and the Cascades, are
unknown.
[Illustration: City Hall. Pierce County Court House.]
TACOMA’S summer climate is equally free from extremes. The temperature
rarely rises to 80° Fahrenheit on summer afternoons. In the summer of
1903, for example, the mercury rose to 80° on only three days in June,
two days in July, once in August and once in September. The nights
are always cool, the days bright and balmy. Thunder and lightning are
exceedingly rare occurrences. Nowhere in the world is the climate more
conducive to health, longevity, exhilaration of mind and body, and to the
production of flowers, fruits, forests and crops in greater abundance and
variety.
TACOMA is one of the healthiest cities in the world. The number of deaths
during the last census year was 425, indicating an annual death rate of
11.3 per 1,000, which is fully one-third less than the average annual
death rate for the United States, 17.4 per 1,000, and almost the lowest
reported from any one of the registration cities of the country. Since
1900 the death rate at TACOMA has decreased. The total number of deaths
for twelve months ending June 30, 1904, was 520. The population of the
city has increased 60 per cent. since the last federal census was taken
and the annual death rate does not now exceed 8.67 per 1,000. Tacoma may
fairly claim to be the healthiest city in the world.
[Illustration: Tacoma in 1871.]