III. CLIMATE. 1 



AONG the coast of Iceland, generally speaking, a decidedly insular 

 climate prevails, the conditions of which are determined by 

 the wind-distribution over the North Atlantic and by oceanic cur- 

 rents. The climate has an oceanic character, the summer being cool 

 and the winter usually mild but it may become very cold when 

 northern winds prevail and the Polar ice blockades the coasts. The 

 air is usually damp, and storms are very frequent and violent. The 

 climate varies, how r ever, rather considerably in the different parts 

 of the coast, and there is also a considerable difference between 

 that of the coast and the interior. 



1 Meteorological observations from Iceland are published annually in "Mete- 

 orologisk Aarbog," 2. Del. Bilandene. Kobenhavn (Annuaire Meteorologique. Public 

 par I'lnstitut meteorologique Danois. Deuxieme partie. Les colonies), in Danish 

 and French. See also. Elements meteorologiques des iles Feroe, de 1'Islande et du 

 Greenland. Copenhague, 1899. The climatological observations from Iceland have, 

 as yet, been worked out to a small extent only, and there exist no larger and 

 more exhaustive accounts of the climate of Iceland; only some small, but valuable, 

 papers are to hand by V. Willaume- Jantzen Climat du littoral islandais. Con- 

 gres maritime international de Copenhague. 1902; and some articles in "Salomon- 

 sens Leksikon,'' 1899, and in "Atlanten, " 1904); use has been made of these in this 

 paper. The climatological means which are given in this paper have been calculated 

 and classified at the Meteorological Institute in Copenhagen in 1910, and were 

 previously published, 1911. only in my book on Iceland "Lysing Islands,' 1 in which 

 there is a section (vol. II, pp. 327 394) giving an account of our present knowledge 

 of the climate of Iceland and its weather-conditions during historic times. Among 

 older papers on the climatology of Iceland may be mentioned .I. Thorstensen. 

 Observationes Meteorological, 1823-1837, in Islandia factae. Hafniae, 1839; J. F. 

 Schouw, Nogle Bermerkninger om Vejrliget paa Island i Vinteren 1824 25 (,Tids- 

 skrift for Naturvidenskaberne. Kebenhavn, 1826, IV, pp. 259262); Mag. Pedersen, 

 Undersogelse om Barometrets daglige Middeloccillation paa Island (Overs. Vid. Selsk.. 

 Forh., 1845, pp. 65 69); and lastly observations by H. .). Scheel from Akureyri, 

 1811 13 (Annals of Philosophy. Edited by Th. Thomson, Series 1, Vol. XI, London, 

 1818, pp. 96103 and 169175), and observations by A. O. Thorlacius from 

 Stykkisholm, published in "Journal of the Scottish Meteorological Society," 1869. 

 1873, etc. Articles on the winds, drift-ice and other more special subjects will be 

 mentioned subsequently in footnotes to the text. 



