CLIMATES FOR HEALTH AND PLEASURE
ONE’S LIFE WOULD BE PROLONGED IF, LIKE THE BIRDS, ONE COULD
MIGRATE ANNUALLY WITH THE TEMPERATURE—CHRISTMAS IN MANY
CLIMES—THE HOTTEST AND COLDEST PLACES IN THE WORLD
From what has gone before it is apparent that the regions of the
earth where man is at his best estate, so far as climate can
determine his environment, may be broadly defined in this country
as southern New England, southern and central New York, the Middle
Atlantic States, the Ohio Valley, the southern Lake Region and
westward to the middle of Kansas and Nebraska; in Europe it includes
the British Isles, France, Switzerland, extreme northern Italy,
Austria, Germany, Belgium, Holland, and the extreme southern parts
of Norway and Sweden. But in none of these regions is the climate
equally good during all seasons. In fact there are two short seasons
in each year when it is debilitating.
The great majority of the people, like galley slaves chained to
their oars, must remain in the same place throughout the year, others
may have a vacation of several weeks, and still others are free to
change their location as often as fancy calls them. The latter might
well learn from the birds, and by migrating with the temperature,
going far north in summer and far south in winter, maintain
themselves throughout the entire year in the most perfect atmospheric
conditions for health, happiness, and long life. Many a man of fifty,
having accumulated enough to modestly supply his wants, could add ten
to thirty years to his life, or might even double the period of his
existence, by ceasing to strive after riches, and by giving himself
up to a healthful movement about this beautiful world. His principal
companions should be good books,—the study of which will enlarge his
mental horizon and increase his capacity to see, comprehend, and
enjoy, and fit him to speak, act, and think in ways that will inure
to the public good. If he has not had the benefits of a college
education, now is the golden opportunity to read, and have pleasure
in the reading, popular books on Geology, Botany, Biology, Astronomy,
and Physics, and to become familiar with the history of his own
country and of the world. It need not be a period of idleness but one
of beautiful growth and of appreciation of the wonders of creation.
And thus will his spirit be lifted up and fitted for a higher realm
of existence in the world to come.
To those who must remain at home during heat spells, the advice is
given to close not only the shutters but the windows on the east side
of the house during the forenoon and do the same on the west side in
the afternoon. The best night’s sleep will be gained in a room facing
north on any floor that is not next the roof; this room will be
cooler if it is protected by another room on its east and one on its
west side.
=Long Life in the Open Air and the Sunshine.= It is difficult to
decide which most conduces to health and longevity: cheerfulness
of mind and kindness of thought, or life in the open air and in
the blessed sunshine. If one can enjoy both of these beneficent
conditions they should live as long as they desire to remain on
earth. _Most people live as long as they deserve to live._ It has
facetiously been said that old age is a bad habit. The writer is
disposed to agree with the humorist. Certain it is that few persons
who believe in the limitation of life to three score and ten ever
live beyond that period, while one should be possessed of a sound
body and a superior mind at that age, with just anticipations of a
third of a century of usefulness and happiness yet to come. As a man
thinketh, so is he. We are just beginning to comprehend something
of the wonderful power with which the Creator has invested us in
the development and the care of our bodies. Anger, hatred, malice,
jealousy, selfishness, fear, and worry create poisons that _may_
bring on disease and death, but they _certainly_ create a morbidity
in the body that shortens life.
Sunshine destroys molds, bacteria, and other enemies of the human
race that lurk in the darkness. It strikes dead the tubercle
bacillus, which is such a scourge to mankind. Its remedial power
comes largely from invisible light—the ultra-violet and the supra-red
rays. You are blind to these rays but your skin and blood are not;
they need the sunshine to give them vitality—not quack medicines
or medical tonics for which, through the venal partnership of the
Press, millions of the afflicted are induced not only to part with
the money so much needed by their families and themselves, but
to aggravate their sufferings. The sunshine of a high region is
beneficial to those ill with coughs, colds, bronchitis, tuberculosis,
anæmia, or other wasting diseases, because the upper altitudes are
rich in many rays that are beneficial, some of which are absorbed
by the higher air and do not penetrate to the earth, or only reach
the earth in minute quantities. There on the mountain the sun’s rays
are unpolluted by the dust and the bacteria of lower levels and
the cities. But one does not need extreme altitudes. Two to three
thousand feet may be sufficient.
=Mountain and Sea Air and the Injury from Over-bathing.= The seashore
is properly a great national playground during the heat of summer.
Evaporated spray leaves a trace of salt in the air which, with the
salt of the ocean, seems to be beneficial to many. Likewise there is
no condition of life that is not benefited by the pure air of the
wooded mountains. Those of moderate vigor may build up and maintain
high vitality by continuous bathing in the cool, pure waters of
mountain lakes and streams, but to many daily swimming in either
fresh or salt water, except that it be for a mere dip and right out
again, that is so cold as to be painful to the delicate sensations
of the skin, is extremely debilitating to all bodily functions. Be
moderate.
=How to Find the Climate You Seek.= At sea level in the tropics heat
and moisture combine to produce great physical discomfort. But even
under the equator it is possible to escape the tropical heat of low
levels by ascending four to six thousand feet, as can be done in some
places in Porto Rico and Cuba. Most of the capitals of South American
countries are located at altitudes of five to ten thousand feet; and
Brazil is planning to abandon her capital at sea level and move the
administrative machinery of government from the splendid city of Rio
de Janeiro to a mountain location in the interior.
Any region of the Alleghany system of mountains above a thousand
feet elevation possesses climatic conditions of therapeutic value.
Illustration of this fact is seen in the success of the noted
sanitaria in the Adirondacks, and in the mountain regions of North
Carolina and Virginia, and in the northern part of New England.
These sections are especially frequented by persons suffering from
pulmonary diseases, or from nervous exhaustion, many of whom find not
only relief but cure. Cool and healthful conditions of temperature
may be found during the summer along the ridges and on the peaks of
the entire mountain system that extends from North Carolina northward
through Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and New England. The
advice of one’s physician should be sought, if one is ailing, before
determining between the seashore and the mountains, but in general
those suffering from diseases of the respiratory organs are better
located in the high levels, remote from the humid air of the ocean.
In winter Bermuda, Florida, Porto Rico, Cuba, the southern part of
the Gulf States, much of Southern California, and Hawaii have balmy
climates that permit of outdoor life without temperatures too high to
be comfortable. Hawaii and Bermuda have mild climates not only during
winter but throughout the entire year. The Riviera on the Gulf of
Genoa and the beautiful Lake region of Italy enjoy the balmy air of
the Mediterranean and are protected from the cold winter winds by the
Alps.
From October to May that portion of the Rocky Mountain plateau that
includes Arizona, New Mexico, and the northern interior of Old Mexico
has one of the finest climates in the world for those afflicted with
pulmonary diseases, as the sunshine is abundant and the day and night
temperatures such as to permit an almost continuous out-of-doors
existence. But the heat and the extreme dryness of the air in June,
July, August, and the first half of September is irritating to the
nerves and debilitating in general. Fortunately, when the conditions
are not favorable in the extreme southwest part of the country, they
are at their best in the mountains of the Middle Atlantic States and
New England, which offer to the pleasure or the health seeker a cool,
pure air unsurpassed by any other region of the earth.
For an all-the-year climate for the health seeker, it only can
be said that the ideal conditions do not continue at any place
throughout the entire year. Possibly it is well that it is so, as a
change may be beneficial for no reason except that it is a change.
There is one great caution ever to be borne in mind, and that is that
the health seeker must not continue or repeat the same unhygienic
life in his new climate that brought on the disease in the old.
=Climate of Cuba.= The climate of one tropical country may differ
materially from that of another in the same latitude as a result
of difference in altitude, proximity to large bodies of water, and
position with respect to the prevailing winds. Cuba being in the
region of the northeast trade winds, more rain falls on the north
side of its mountains than on the south side. The temperature of the
southeast coast is higher than it is on the northern and western
coasts, and the range of temperature everywhere between night and day
is small, rarely ten degrees and usually much less. It therefore has
a warm, humid, and monotonous climate, except in the high levels of
its mountains. The winter tourist will find the conditions of the
greater part of the island somewhat similar to those in the region
of Miami, Florida, but warmer. Havana is not so hot as Santiago. The
highest temperature ever recorded at Havana is 101° and the lowest
50°. A fairly pleasant temperature always can be found within a short
ride to the mountains. As in most tropical countries, Cuba has a dry
and a wet season. The rainy season is May to October. In the early
part of September, 1900, over thirty-six inches of rain fell within
thirty-six hours at Santiago. As a rule the precipitation is in the
shape of heavy showers, the clouds clearing as soon as the rain
ceases; the showers usually occur in the afternoon. Cuba, in common
with all the islands of the West Indies, occasionally is visited
by destructive hurricanes; these storms mainly are confined to the
period August to October. Frequent terrific thunderstorms occur in
summer.
=Climate of Porto Rico.= Its mountainous character gives it a marked
diversity of climate, torrential rains falling on the windward side
of its mountains, while the leeward sides are comparatively dry. The
highest temperature in San Juan since 1876 is 101° and the lowest
57°. In this city a cool breeze, known as the “briza”, adds to the
comfort of the late afternoon and evening. The wet season begins
a month earlier than in Cuba and lasts a month longer. San Juan is
probably the most healthful city in the West Indies, but those reared
in northern climates invariably suffer from its enervating influence
after several years of continuous residence. Water is abundant, there
being some seventy rivers and over a thousand small streams. The
mountains are clothed in vegetation to their tops, and frost of a
killing nature is practically unknown in the island.
=Climate of the Hawaiian Islands.= Much has been written about the
charm of the Hawaiian Islands, their mountains, volcanoes, tropical
verdure, and delightful climate. It is indeed a garden spot, and
its soil and climate make it so. Nowhere in the islands does the
temperature reach 90° at any time of the year, while at Honolulu,
the largest city and the capital, a temperature lower than 60° is
rarely experienced. Of course, as one ascends the high mountains for
which the group is noted, much lower temperatures are encountered,
while snow is not infrequent near the tops. July and August are the
warmest months and January the coldest. The climate is soothing and
dreamy and doubtless would prolong the life of many who are aged
and slowly passing to their end, and that of others of low vitality
but no organic disease. Most of the rain falls November to May, but
some falls in every month of the year. At Honolulu the amount is
about that which falls in Wisconsin, but at a station in the Kohala
Mountains one hundred and fifty-four inches have been measured as the
rainfall for seven months, and forty-two inches for one month, the
latter being a larger amount than the annual rainfall for the State
of Iowa.
=Climate of the Philippines.= The highest temperature so far recorded
at Manila is 100° and the lowest 60°. It is therefore warmer than
either Havana or Porto Rico. The hottest months are April, May, and
June, but the cool months are but a trifle cooler than the warm
months, the annual range of temperature being but three degrees. The
humidity is high at all seasons, and therefore the heat is oppressive
and debilitating. The greater part of the rainfall of Manila is from
June to October. Some relief may be gained from the low-level heat
by retreat to the mountains of some of the islands. It will require
several generations before the white man can become acclimated to
this region. The islands lie between latitude 6° and 18° North. White
children born of American parents and raised there never will have
the energy or ambition of their progenitors. If it were not for the
invigorating air of the mountain resort at Baquio, many American
officials could not continue a residence in the Philippines.
=Climate of Bermuda in Comparison with the Popular Winter Resorts
of Florida and California.= It is a mistake to represent the
climate of Bermuda as one of balmy sunshine during winter months.
It has some glorious days, but a large proportion are cloudy,
rainy, cool, and windy, and too cold for comfortable or healthful
bathing from the middle of December to the first of May. And yet,
its climate is healthful as a whole for nine months of the year and
more stimulating than is that of Florida in winter. If one wishes
sunshine and sea bathing in midwinter, it is better to go to Palm
Beach, St. Petersburg, or Miami, Florida; but if one desires to
have a moderately cool climate with a temperature of but little
variation between midday and midnight, and occasionally a day with
sufficient warmth and sunshine to justify a dip in the ocean or in
the many land-locked bays with which the islands abound, one well
may come to Bermuda. Such winter clothing as one naturally would
wear in Philadelphia or Washington is what one will need in order
to be comfortable. Bermuda is no place for Palm Beach suits, outing
shirts, and Panama hats in winter. Many tourists are mislead by
the advertisements of steamship lines and bring clothing which is
suitable only for early fall and late spring.
From the first of November to the middle of May the author occupied
a room on the ground floor, facing the waters of Hamilton Harbor,
and only fifty feet from the shore line. Here the diurnal range
of temperature is much less than at Prospect Hill, where the
Government’s observations are made. From the middle of December to
the middle of March, a thermometer in this room sluggishly ranged
from 60° at night to 64° during the day, and days when the wind
was high and rain falling—as occurs about one third of the time in
winter—the thermometer would not vary a degree from 60° during the
entire twenty-four hours. During April the range each day was from
68° at night to 70° at midday, and during November and May from 70°
to 76°.
The selection of the best winter climate for health and for pleasure
is so important that comparative data are here given of the most
popular places that are easy of access to the people of the United
States.
Bermuda has a wind velocity much greater than that of any of the
resorts named in the tables, and its relative humidity is about that
of Florida.
The charm of Bermuda is that the flowers bloom, vegetables grow, and
the trees remain green the year round. Even though frequent short
showers may fall each twenty-four hours more than half of the days
during winter, the soil is so porous that there is little or no mud,
and life is largely one of the open air, with a winter temperature
that conduces to activity; in fact, the temperature is such that one
requires heavy clothing all the time if one is to sit inactive in the
open. There is neither frost, fog, nor malaria, nor snakes.
Bermuda lies 666 miles south of New York City and about 700 miles
due east from Charleston, S. C., and 293 miles from the southern
edge of the Gulf Stream, which, if the truth must be told, exercises
no such influence on the climate of Bermuda as highly colored
advertising circulars would have one believe. It is the great ocean,
upon whose surface the islands make the most infinitesimal dot, that
controls the climate of the Bermudas. The Gulf Stream, wonderful
phenomenon that it is, is a sort of bug-a-boo to some who never
have intelligently studied ocean meteorology. Travelers tell of the
superheated atmosphere they encountered on crossing the Stream, and
educators who should know better teach that the entire climate of
Europe is markedly influenced by it. The fact is that there is no
distortion whatever of the isothermal lines as they enter and leave
the Gulf stream in any region north of Bermuda. (See Chart 14.) The
climate of Bermuda and of Europe is controlled largely by the great
Atlantic Ocean, not by this small river of warm water, which broadens
out and loses its identity long before the coast of Europe is
reached, and whose influence is soon dissipated in the vast expanse
of ocean air. The ocean has a great circulating system, northward
on the western and southward on its eastern side. This circulation
pushes the isothermal lines northward on one side and southward on
the other.
The islands of Bermuda rise some 15,000 feet from the floor of the
ocean, and project above the water to heights varying from 50 to
260 feet above sea level. Like jewels nestling upon the bosom of a
sub-tropical ocean these islands, from one half to three miles wide,
are strung along so close that one almost can hop over from one to
the other. They lie in the form of a fish-hook; from the hole where
the line of the fisherman would be tied to the point of the hook is
about twenty-six miles. The topography is irregular and picturesque.
On land there are caves and grottoes and subterranean lakes. January
to May rose borders are abloom. In April the oleander is showing
pink and crimson along every roadside, and the hedges hold these
beautiful flowers for months; at Easter time lilies carpet the ground
and perfume the air. Here morning glories have many forms and colors,
which, with pendent bells, climb wide-spreading cedar trees, and wild
passion flowers cover rocky cliffs.
The sea is so transparent that many feet below the surface the
eye may follow the movements of marine life housed about by coral
formations of strange devices. The colors of the sea are as
changeable as the opal. Over shallow bottoms the colors are delicate
shades of light green, over the shoals brownish hues, and beyond the
dangerous reefs, which have sent many a sailor to his long home, and
behind which numerous pirates of old have taken refuge, the waters
vary from the light blue of the sapphire to deep green. The prismatic
colors are forever laughing and dancing to the eye of the beholder.
The shadow of a cloud, a ripple of the surface, a different angle
to the fall of sunshine as the day advances, deepen or brighten the
tints through a wide range of color.
Through the glass bottom of a boat one may look into the gardens.
Rising from the bottom and waving gracefully with the movements of
the waters, like tree ferns moved by gentle zephyrs, are purple sea
fans and tall black rods. Beautifully colored fishes dart about, or
lazily bask in the sun that illumines their coral grottoes; weeds of
many colors; green and scarlet sponges; vegetable growths delicate in
formation and brilliant anemones cling to ledges of rock that here
and there are tinted with pink.
Rival champions of the east and the west coasts of Florida may
fortify themselves by a study of the tables. It may be noted that
Miami and Tampa have the same midday temperature, but that Tampa
has a greater range, the night temperature on the average falling
five degrees lower than Miami; also that Tampa, which can be
taken as typical of St. Petersburg, has but twenty-one rainy days
on an average from December to March inclusive, while Miami has
thirty-four. Bermuda has sixty-five days with rain during the period,
with much wind. From these data one may select the climate that best
suits him and he may know that the data are accurate and put forth by
some one not interested in advancing the interest of one place over
another. No country in the world has more delightful and healthful
climates for winter and for summer than can be found in the wide
domain of the United States.
U. S. WEATHER BUREAU
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE, HUMIDITY, DAYS WITH RAIN, CLOUDINESS, AND WIND AT
_Los Angeles, California_
==========================+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+
DATA |JAN. |FEB. |MAR. |APR. |MAY |JUNE |
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Maximum | 64 | 66 | 67 | 70 | 72 | 77 |
Highest maximum | 87 | 88 | 99 |100 |103 |105 |
Minimum | 44 | 45 | 47 | 49 | 52 | 56 |
Lowest minimum | 28 | 28 | 31 | 36 | 40 | 46 |
Daily range | 21 | 21 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
Relative humidity | 65 | 69 | 69 | 72 | 76 | 76 |
Days with .01 or more rain| 7 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
Percentage sunshine | 65 | 68 | 65 | 68 | 63 | 69 |
Hourly wind velocity | 5.1| 5.3| 5.3| 5.2| 5.2| 5.0|
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
==========================+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+======
DATA |JULY |AUG. |SEPT.|OCT. |NOV. |DEC. |ANNUAL
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------
Maximum | 82 | 82 | 81 | 76 | 72 | 67 | 73
Highest maximum |109 |106 |108 |102 | 96 | 89 | 109
Minimum | 59 | 60 | 58 | 53 | 48 | 46 | 52
Lowest minimum | 49 | 49 | 44 | 40 | 34 | 30 | 28
Daily range | 25 | 24 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 20 | 22
Relative humidity | 75 | 74 | 73 | 69 | 62 | 58 | 70
Days with .01 or more rain| 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 40
Percentage sunshine | 76 | 79 | 77 | 76 | 77 | 74 | 71
Hourly wind velocity | 4.7| 4.6| 4.5| 4.5| 4.6| 5.0| 4.9
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------
_Miami, Florida_
--------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+
DATA |JAN.|FEB.|MAR.|APR.|MAY |JUNE|
--------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Maximum | 69 | 70 | 76 | 80 | 86 | 89 |
Highest maximum | 85 | 88 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 94 |
Minimum | 58 | 59 | 64 | 66 | 70 | 73 |
Lowest minimum | 29 | 29 | 39 | 46 | 62 | 61 |
Daily range | 11 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 |
Relative humidity | 81 | 80 | 79 | 76 | 79 | 82 |
Days with .01 or more rain| 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 14 |
Percentage sunshine | 60 | 62 | 67 | 73 | 67 | 60 |
Hourly wind velocity | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 |
--------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+
--------------------------+----+----+-----+----+----+----+-----+
DATA |JULY|AUG.|SEPT.|OCT.|NOV.|DEC.|ANNUAL
--------------------------+----+----+-----+----+----+----+------
Maximum | 89 | 89 | 88 | 82 | 76 | 70 | 80
Highest maximum | 96 | 96 | 94 | 93 | 88 | 91 | 96
Minimum | 75 | 75 | 74 | 71 | 67 | 61 | 68
Lowest minimum | 69 | 67 | 62 | 53 | 38 | 32 | 29
Daily range | 14 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 12
Relative humidity | 82 | 83 | 83 | 80 | 79 | 81 | 80
Days with .01 or more rain| 14 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 135
Percentage sunshine | 64 | 64 | 62 | 53 | 61 | 57 | 62
Hourly wind velocity | 8 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10
--------------------------+----+----+-----+----+----+----+------
U. S. WEATHER BUREAU (Continued)
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE, HUMIDITY, DAYS WITH RAIN, CLOUDINESS, AND WIND AT
_Jacksonville, Florida_
==========================+====+====+====+====+====+====+
DATA |JAN.|FEB.|MAR.|APR.|MAY |JUNE|
--------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Maximum | 56 | 57 | 63 | 67 | 75 | 80 |
Highest maximum | 81 | 86 | 91 | 92 |108 |101 |
Minimum | 47 | 49 | 54 | 59 | 63 | 72 |
Lowest minimum | 15 | 10 | 26 | 34 | 46 | 54 |
Daily range | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 8 |
Relative humidity | 81 | 79 | 77 | 74 | 75 | 79 |
Days with .01 or more rain| 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 13 |
Percentage sunshine | 55 | 57 | 68 | 73 | 71 | 65 |
Hourly wind velocity | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
--------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+
==========================+====+====+=====+====+====+====+======
DATA |JULY|AUG.|SEPT.|OCT.|NOV.|DEC.|ANNUAL
--------------------------+----+----+-----+----+----+----+------
Maximum | 82 | 82 | 78 | 70 | 62 | 56 | 69
Highest maximum |104 |101 | 99 | 95 | 86 | 82 | 104
Minimum | 74 | 74 | 71 | 63 | 54 | 47 | 61
Lowest minimum | 66 | 64 | 49 | 37 | 26 | 14 | 10
Daily range | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8
Relative humidity | 80 | 83 | 84 | 82 | 81 | 81 | 80
Days with .01 or more rain| 15 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 124
Percentage sunshine | 63 | 63 | 59 | 56 | 63 | 53 | 62
Hourly wind velocity | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8
--------------------------+----+----+-----+----+----+----+------
_San Diego, California_
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
DATA |JAN. |FEB. |MAR. |APR. |MAY |JUNE |
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Maximum | 62.2| 62.6| 63.6| 65.2| 66.0| 69.2|
Highest maximum | 83 | 89 | 99 | 96 | 98 | 94 |
Minimum | 46.4| 47.6| 49.6| 52.4| 55.5| 58.7|
Lowest minimum | 25 | 34 | 36 | 39 | 45 | 50 |
Daily range | 15.8| 15.0| 13.9| 13.2| 10.5| 10.5|
Relative humidity | 71 | 74 | 74 | 75 | 77 | 80 |
Days with .01 or more rain| 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Percentage sunshine | 67 | 67 | 66 | 69 | 58 | 62 |
Wind velocity | 5.1| 5.8| 6.2| 6.4| 6.4| 6.1|
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
--------------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+-----+-----+------
DATA |JULY |AUG. |SEPT. |OCT. |NOV. |DEC. |ANNUAL
--------------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+-----+-----+------
Maximum | 72.3| 73.6| 73.1| 70.4| 67.7| 64.3| 67.5
Highest maximum | 93 | 93 | 110 | 96 | 93 | 84 | 110
Minimum | 62.2| 63.6| 61.3| 56.6| 51.4| 47.9| 54.5
Lowest minimum | 54 | 54 | 50 | 44 | 36 | 32 | 25
Daily range | 10.1| 10.2| 11.9| 13.6| 16.4| 16.3| 13.1
Relative humidity | 81 | 80 | 79 | 76 | 70 | 68 | 75
Days with .01 or more rain| 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 44
Percentage sunshine | 67 | 72 | 72 | 73 | 76 | 74 | 68
Wind velocity | 5.9| 5.7| 5.7| 5.3| 5.0| 5.0| 5.7
--------------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+-----+-----+------
U. S. WEATHER BUREAU (Continued)
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE, HUMIDITY, DAYS WITH RAIN, CLOUDINESS, AND WIND AT
_Tampa, Florida_
==========================+====+====+====+====+====+====+
DATA |JAN.|FEB.|MAR.|APR.| MAY|JUNE|
--------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Maximum | 69 | 70 | 77 | 80 | 86 | 89 |
Highest maximum | 82 | 86 | 92 | 90 | 94 | 95 |
Minimum | 51 | 52 | 58 | 61 | 67 | 71 |
Lowest minimum | 23 | 22 | 32 | 38 | 53 | 64 |
Daily range | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 |
Relative humidity | 82 | 80 | 80 | 75 | 75 | 80 |
Days with .01 or more rain| 4 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
--------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+
==========================+====+====+=====+=====+=====+=====+====
DATA |JULY|AUG.|SEPT.|OCT. |NOV. |DEC. |YEAR
--------------------------+----+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
Maximum | 89 | 89 | 88 | 82 | 76 | 70 | 80
Highest maximum | 96 | 96 | 96 | 93 | 87 | 83 | 96
Minimum | 73 | 73 | 72 | 65 | 58 | 52 | 63
Lowest minimum | 65 | 66 | 54 | 43 | 32 | 19 | 19
Daily range | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 17
Relative humidity | 82 | 83 | 84 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 80
Days with .01 or more rain| 11 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 75
--------------------------+----+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
_Bermuda_
Observations taken on the hill at Prospect, 250 feet elevation, and
furnished through the courtesy of Sir Frederick Stupart, Director of
Canadian weather service
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
DATA |JAN. |FEB. |MAR. |APR. |MAY |JUNE |
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Maximum |67 |67 |68 |70 |74 |78 |
Highest maximum |79 |75 |78 |80 |83 |88 |
Minimum |58 |57 |57 |58 |63 |68 |
Lowest minimum |39 |45 |44 |40 |49 |54 |
Daily range of temperature|10 |10 |11 |11 |11 |11 |
Relative humidity |82 |81 |81 |81 |84 |85 |
Days with .01 rain or more|17 |16 |15 |12 |11 |11 |
Hourly wind velocity |15 |16 |15 |14 |12 |11 |
Greatest monthly rainfall | 9.71|10.40|10.05|13.31| 9.09|10.98|
Average rainfall | 4.90| 4.79| 5.05| 4.90| 4.39| 5.18|
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------
DATA |JULY |AUG. |SEPT.|OCT. |NOV. |DEC. |ANNUAL
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------
Maximum |84 |85 |83 |78 |73 |69 | 75
Highest maximum |92 |94 |91 |88 |82 |79 | 94
Minimum |73 |74 |72 |69 |63 |60 | 64
Lowest minimum |65 |64 |59 |60 |49 |46 | 39
Daily range of temperature|11 |11 |11 |11 |10 |10 | 11
Relative humidity |84 |83 |83 |82 |81 |81 | 82
Days with .01 rain or more|12 |15 |14 |15 |16 |17 |171
Hourly wind velocity |11 |10 |11 |12 |13 |14 | 13
Greatest monthly rainfall |11.24|21.33|16.30|17.73|11.36|10.58|
Average rainfall | 3.76| 5.98| 5.24| 7.91| 4.32| 4.98| 61.40
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------
The Scientific American thus speaks of the uses of climatic data:
“What are climatic statistics good for? To this query one is
tempted to retort: What are they _not_ good for? Let us set down
a few typical cases in which such data are desired.
“A merchant plans to undertake the sale of rubber coats
in foreign markets. Hence he wishes to know all about the
distribution of rainfall, both geographically and as to season.
Which are the rainy regions of the globe? When do the heaviest
occur in each of these regions? Where do the prevailing
temperatures indicate the need of heavy coats, and where light?
“An invalid contemplates visiting a certain health resort. What
mean temperatures occur there at the season of the proposed
visit? What ranges of temperature between day and night? How much
does the temperature vary from day to day? How much sunshine may
be expected? Is the atmosphere moist or dry? What of the winds?
Such are some of the questions he is likely to ask.
“A horticulturist proposes to introduce a foreign plant in this
country. Where will he find the most favorable climate for it? In
order to settle this question he first tries to secure certain
information about the climate of the plant’s original habitat—the
march of temperature through the season of growth, average
dates of first and last frost, normal fluctuations of rainfall,
humidity, sunshine, etc. If the desired information is obtained,
the next step is to ascertain where (if anywhere) similar
climatic conditions prevail in the United States, and this is
generally an easy task.
“An engineer is planning a sewer system. He needs data of
excessive rainfall for the locality under consideration, so that
he may estimate the maximum amount of storm-water the sewers will
ever need to dispose of in a given time. Their capacity should
not exceed this amount beyond a reasonable margin of safety:
otherwise cost of construction would be unnecessarily great.
“This list of examples might be extended almost indefinitely.
It will suffice, however, to show how wide a range of climatic
information is required to meet all possible demands. The
different branches of industry are concerned with different sets
of climatic data. One set helps determine the best location
for a railroad: another the kind of goods that will be shipped
over it and the way in which they will need to be packed and
cared for during shipment. The climatic conditions that must be
considered in planning a military campaign are quite unlike those
that engage the attention of a hydrological engineer in laying
out a system of irrigation. Climatic statistics of interest to
aviators are not identical with those that bear upon the problems
of ecology or forestry or sanitation. In short, climate means
different things to different people.”
=Christmas in Many Climes.= A general idea of the diversification of
climate may be gathered from a description of the weather of some
particular day of the year as it exists in many different parts of
the world. One is too prone to assume that the weather one has on a
given day prevails everywhere. For the moment one does not consider
the effect of distance from the equator, proximity to large bodies
of water, and elevation above sea level and above the surrounding
region. When a holiday or any day of special interest occurs,
while the weather cannot make the occasion a success, it can quite
effectively destroy all pleasure in the event. When we approach the
day of all days in the year when two fifths of the people of the
world celebrate the natal day of Christ, interest in the weather
increases. The little ones of our clime pray that a mantle of snow
may cover the ground, so that dear old Santa Claus may come with his
reindeer and sleigh. The boys and girls long for the snow-covered
hillsides and the glassy ponds; and even our good old grandmother
smiles in anticipation of such a Christmas Day as gladdened her heart
when she was a wee tot.
It may be interesting to know under what kind of skies the people of
other lands celebrate this international holiday. In the Northern
Hemisphere places near the same latitude may have weather conditions
greatly at variance the one from the other, because of conditions
previously explained. It is our winter now; not because the sun is
farthest from us, for in five days the earth will reach the time
of perihelion in its course around the sun, and be nearer to the
central luminary than at any other time of the year, but because the
inclination of the earth’s axis causes us to receive the rays of the
sun at a lower angle than during any other season and its intensity
is reduced. The conditions are reversed to the people of the Southern
Hemisphere; they now receive the most direct rays of the sun and have
their summer, which is intensified by the nearness of the earth to
the sun.
The event that gave origin to our Christmas holiday occurred nearly
two thousand years ago in Bethlehem of Judea; and it may be a new
idea to us to try to think of the weather that prevailed at that
time and the character of the Christmas Day that land may have this
year. We know that it was not cold and cloudy on that eventful night
so long ago, for the shepherds were feeding their flocks upon the
hillsides and the Wise Men of the East beheld a star and followed
it. The star shone brightly from the time they left Herod until they
reached the place where the Infant lay. We may therefore judge that
this part of their journey was made under a clear sky and that the
same conditions prevailed at Bethlehem. Weather observations made
at Jerusalem, a few miles from Bethlehem, during modern times, show
that during December there are less than fourteen cloudy days on the
average. The prevailing winds are from the Mediterranean Sea, only
thirty miles to the west of Bethlehem, and therefore rarely does the
temperature exceed 65° during the day or fall to freezing at night.
While there is evidence that the climate is drier now throughout all
of the Holy Land than at the birth of Christ, it is highly probable
that when He was born the stars were shining brightly and the hills
were green and beautiful and the weather smiling its benediction upon
the Son of God.
We now will glance at the weather that experience teaches us will
probably prevail in some of the principal cities of the world on
Christmas Day, and thus have impressed upon us the fact that on
any day of the year humanity lives under widely differing weather
conditions throughout the world.
In our own country we know that Maine is the home of ice, snow, and
chilling blasts, while in California and Florida orange blossoms
perfume the temperate air.
In London Christmas is not always bright and comfortable, for on the
average twenty-one days in December are cloudy and the temperature
ranges from a few degrees below freezing at night to about 50° during
the day.
In Paris the weather is about the same as in London. It has the same
percentage of cloudiness, and its daily range of temperature is
from 32° to 45°, slightly colder than London. The influence of wind
direction and the relation of water and land areas to the location
of a city are well exemplified in the fact that Paris, farther south
than London, has a lower winter temperature. In the United States
the coldest winter winds are from the northwest and they also would
be so in Western Europe were it not for the fact that they draw from
the ocean, whose waters are much warmer in winter than the interior
of the continent of Europe. The northeast winds are therefore the
coldest that come to Paris and London. In the first case they draw
from the cold interior, and in the second case the air in passing
to London from the northeast must pass over the North Sea and the
extreme temperature of the cold land is somewhat modified by even
this comparatively small body of water with the result that the
average daily maximum temperature of London for December is five
degrees warmer than its neighbor some two hundred miles farther
south.
Berlin and Vienna have the same degree of cloudiness, but there the
similarity ceases. Berlin, only about one hundred miles from the
Baltic Sea on the northeast and about double this distance from the
North Sea on the northwest has an average range of but eight degrees
between day and night temperatures, while Vienna, deep-set in the
interior of a great continent, has a daily range of thirty-seven
degrees, the average temperature swinging from 13° to 50° each day
during December.
Constantinople was named after the Roman Emperor who made it
his capital and who first protected the early Christians from
persecution, then became converted and, in the manner of his time,
forced others to accept the doctrine at the point of the sword. Here
Christianity was first recognized and adopted as a State religion,
but since the middle of the fifteenth century Constantinople has
been the home of the Sultan of Turkey and the principal city of
those who worship Muhammid as the prophet of God instead of Christ.
This ancient city, so interwoven in the history of Christianity,
has a delightful climate at Christmas time, the daily range being
from between a little above freezing and 65° or 70°, with clouds
obscuring the sky about one half the time.
Historical Rome has about as many clear days as cloudy ones and the
days are pleasant and the nights simply cool.
At Cairo, in the land where Joseph was sold into bondage and where
Pharaoh raised him to the highest position in the land next to his
own, no more delightful place can the traveler find at Christmas
time. Only one day in three is cloudy and the gentle winds are warm
and balmy, with a daily range in temperature of 12°.
In Calcutta there is a great amount of sunshine, only one day in five
being cloudy, with an average daily minimum temperature of 58° and a
maximum of 80°.
Bombay is also sunshiny at this time of the year and excessively
hot, with a range each day from 66° to 88°. Here, as at Calcutta,
Brahmanism and Buddhism rule instead of Christianity.
China, that enormous empire that believes in the ethical philosophy
of Confucius, whose inhabitants have lived for four thousand years
with less strife and bloodshed than any other nation, has as great
a variety of climate during December in the widely separated parts
of its broad domain as has the United States. On any day of the
Christmas month some parts of this country are bound in icy chains,
while other parts are sweltering in a torrid temperature.
That wonderful Island—Japan—whose people have made such amazing
strides in catching up with the most advanced civilization of the
Occident, and who never have accepted Christianity, has a most
delightful climate during winter, with a large amount of sunshine and
moderate temperatures.
The vast Christian nation so long ruled by the Tzar, and now in
such deplorable chaos, has a varied climate during December. From
temperate conditions in the southern portion of its European
possessions it gradually grows colder as one goes northward until a
region of great severity is reached. At Petrograd the average night
temperature is 6° below zero. At Moscow it is colder, the average of
its minimum temperature being 11° below. Two thirds of the time it is
cloudy at these two cities.
Verkhoyansk, in the central portion of Siberia, is nearly the coldest
place in the world where observations are regularly taken. There
Christmas Day may be ushered in with a temperature as low as 75°
below zero. For days at a time this extreme cold remains, the warmest
part of the day varying but little from the coldest.
In many of the cities of the Southern Hemisphere Christmas Day is
likely to be such as will cause the sojourner to long for some cooler
region. There it is midsummer, the grass is green and the fruit is on
the tree. We of the North could hardly realize that it is December.
In the pampas of the Argentine Republic everything is parched. The
white stucco walls and the red tile roofs in the cities reflect the
intense rays of the sun into the shimmering air. In Rio de Janeiro
the days are almost unbearable, the daily temperature rising to 100°
and over at midday and seldom falling to 60° at night. Bear in mind
that the greater part of the area of South America lies between the
equator and 30° south latitude. But wherever in these South American
cities one can escape to an elevation of several thousand feet a
pleasant temperature may be found.
At Santiago, Chili, it is more comfortable than in Brazil, for the
nights are cool, even though the day temperatures rival those of
the Argentine Republic. But here the cool mountain tops are almost
hanging over the coast cities.
At Cape Town, in the extreme south part of Africa, two days out of
three are clear and the daily range of temperature is from 48° to
83°, making fairly pleasant conditions during the Christmas holidays.
At Melbourne, Australia, one half of the days are cloudy, and the
temperature is moderate, having a range from 54° to 75°.
Thus we see that the climatological features of the world, not only
on Christmas but on any other day of the year, are as varied as
the hopes and wishes of man, and whatever his desires or physical
necessities may be, a climate may be found under the influence of
which he may find pleasure and gain health.
=The Hottest and the Coldest Places in the World.= It is an innate
characteristic of the human race to be interested in the abnormal,
whether it be in the achievements of men or in the extremes of
natural phenomena. This is especially true with regard to the
weather. During periods of extremes of heat or cold the natural
inquiry is as to whether there ever has been a period of equal or
greater severity. Although suffering intensely there always is a
desire to “beat the record.” It therefore may be of interest briefly
to refer to the hottest and the coldest places in the world.
=North America.= One of the most torrid places in the United States
is in that remarkable region known as Death Valley. It is located
in Southern California. Its name is supposed to be derived from a
melancholy tragedy that occurred in 1850, in which every member
of a party of emigrants perished in Death Valley from thirst and
exhaustion, leaving the bones of themselves and their animals to
whiten in the sun. The valley is the bed of an ancient salt sea
which existed when the climate was much wetter than now; its soil
is largely composed of sand, salt, and borax. The borax deposits
are large; at places they form crusts that support the weight of
travelers. The length of the valley is seventy-five miles, but it
is narrow at the bottom, in places being no more than six miles.
One of its remarkable features is that its bottom, in many places,
is three hundred feet below the level of the sea, one hundred miles
to the west. It is fed by several small streams and innumerable
warm springs, the water from which is entirely absorbed by the
porous soil, although water may be found by digging down a few
feet. The water is unfit for use. It is a desolate and forbidden
region, inhabited by gnats, toads, lizards, and snakes. However, the
employees of a company engaged in the business of marketing borax
spend a portion of each year there.
In 1891 an observer of the U. S. Weather Bureau remained in Death
Valley from May to September, during which time he made daily
observations of the weather. His experience was a most trying one,
drawing heavily upon his physical and mental stamina to complete the
period of time that had been set for him. For the entire time of
one hundred and fifty-four days less than one half an inch of rain
fell. There occurred several days in succession with a temperature of
122°. However, this is not the highest temperature ever recorded in
the United States. In July, 1887, at Mammoth Tank, in the Colorado
Desert, the temperature reached 128° in the shade, and again, in
1884, 124° was reached at the same place. On July 18, 1891, in Death
Valley, the maximum was 120° and the minimum 99°, making an average
for all hours of 108.6°. The extremely high temperatures reached in
the Colorado Desert, which embraces a portion of Southern California
and Arizona, do not vary greatly from those of Death Valley; they are
not exceeded anywhere in Central or North America. Such degrees of
heat, if experienced for two or three weeks in the more humid regions
of the eastern half of the United States, would nearly depopulate the
region by the havoc of death.
The lowest temperatures in the United States occur in extreme
northern portions of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana, where
temperatures from 50° to 55° below zero have been recorded. It is
interesting to note that in this same region the summer temperatures
have risen to readings of from 105° to 108°. Of course this heat is
quite different in its effects upon life from the heat of the Gulf
or Atlantic coasts. One feels a marked difference between the sun
and the shade temperatures in these semi-arid regions. Sunstroke is
infrequent and death seldom results from exposure, as it does in the
East.
The region of severest cold in North America is found about the Great
Bear Lake in the British Northwest Territory, where temperatures of
58° below zero have been recorded.
=South America.= The hottest portion of South America is in the
interior, with extensive systems of mountain ranges along the coast
preventing the inward flow of the moist rain-bearing winds from the
ocean. In a stretch of country extending from Uruguay northward into
the interior of Brazil, the average of the highest temperature of
each year for a period of several years is 104°, with individual
readings much higher. Except on the top of the mountains, or well up
their sides, no severely cold weather occurs in South America, seven
eighths of its territory lying between the equator and latitude 30°
south.
=Africa.= In Africa is to be found the hottest region of the world,
the great Desert of Sahara, upon whose sands beats down the fierce
tropical sun with merciless intensity. Here shade temperatures of
130° are frequently experienced. Only those bred to extreme tropical
desert heat can long live under such conditions. In a portion of
the desert lying between Egypt and the Red Sea the temperature has
been known not to fall below 113° for a period of ten days, while
on several nights the lowest temperature reached was 118°, with a
practically calm air. Africa lies with about one half of its immense
area on each side of the equator, and the greater part of its
territory inside the Tropical Zone. Except in a few isolated cases on
high mountains, temperatures as low as zero never are experienced.
=Europe.= The warmest portion of Europe is in the region round
and about the Mediterranean Sea. The coldest places in all Europe
are in the western part of Russia and in the northern part of the
Scandinavian Peninsula. Here the average of the coldest days of
winter is 50° below zero.
=Asia.= It is difficult to determine in what part of Asia the highest
temperature occurs, as data from many parts are meager. It is known
however that extremely hot weather prevails in India and Arabia.
Siberia, however, experiences the coldest weather to be found
anywhere in the world. At Werchojansk, in that country, a temperature
of 90.4° below zero was observed in January, 1884, while the average
temperature for the whole month was 69.4° below zero.
The coldest weather of the world is not found at the North or the
South Pole, as many suppose, but rather at the center of vast
continents, far from the modifying influence of oceans.
=Australia.= In extreme heat the interior of Australia is fairly
comparable with northern Africa, Persia, Afghanistan, and northern
India, where every year maximum temperatures of 115° occur, and
where, at times, an extreme heat of 120° or 125° is experienced in
the shade.
We now know that the forceful, dominating peoples come out of the
regions where the heat is not so great as to debilitate, nor the cold
so fierce as to deaden the mental and the physical faculties; but
rather from the region of the thoroughfare of the great circum-polar
storm tracks, where there are frequent changes of weather from
sunshine to clouds, and where there is a fairly wide difference in
temperature between night and day and between winter and summer. For
the best coördination of the mental and the physical faculties, so
as to produce the most efficient composite of man, the temperature
should range between 45° and 50° at night and between 65° and 70°
during the day, with about sixty-five to seventy per cent. of
relative humidity. Some day we will artificially create the exact
conditions of temperature and moisture needed for patients in
hospitals and sanitaria. Science is persistently seeking means to
increase comfort and prolong life.