CHAPTER XIV
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.