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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



freezing; at Umanak, about halfway 

 between the southernmost and north- 

 ernmost points, it is 11° below, and 

 along the northern coast it is probably 

 35° below freezing. The mean winter 

 temperature is successively lower along 

 the coast as the latitude increases, but 

 this is not true of the mean temperature 

 of summer. Due to increasing effect of 

 the continuotis sunlight the mid-west 

 Greenland coast in summer has a higher 

 mean temperature than Cape Farewell; 

 thus Holsteinsborg, lying along the 

 coast in latitude 76° N. has a mean 

 summer temperature of 45° while Nanor- 

 talik, on the sixtieth parallel, 7° farther 

 south, has a mean summer temperature 

 of 42°. 



The lowest temperature reported from 

 the neighborhood of Cape Farewell is 

 — 20°; from the mid-west coast, —45°; 

 and from the northern portion, —70°; 

 the highest temperature reported from 

 the southern portion is 75°; from the 

 mid-west coast, 70°; and from the 

 northernmost portion, 65°. From year 

 to year the temperature in any period 

 may vary widely; for instance the highest 

 temperature for February, 1891, at Uper- 

 nivik, in 72° 54' was —4°; for February, 

 1892, 57°; for February, 1894, 2°; and 

 for February, 1895, 60°. 



The average number of days below 

 freezing increases from north to south 

 successively^ — at Cape Farewell 208; at 

 the sixty-fifth parallel, 244, at the 

 seventieth parallel, 257; at the seventy- 

 fifth parallel, 300. Except in the south- 

 ernmost portions and at the heads of 

 the deep fjords between the sixty- 

 fifth and the seventieth parallels, frost is 

 likely even in midsummer. 



Precipitation 



The precipitation varies considerably 

 in character and amount. The northern 

 portion has a relatively small precipita- 

 tion, almost all of which falls as snow, 

 rain being very exceptional; snow falls 

 every month of the year. Along the 

 western coast the precipitation de- 

 creases from Cape Farewell northward. 



At Cape Farewell with about one 

 hundred days of precipitation, it is 

 over 45 in. annually; at the sixty-fifth 

 parallel it is 27 in. in one hundred 

 seventy days of precipitation; at the 

 seventieth parallel it is 10 in. in one 

 hundred days; and thence decreases 

 slowly northward. The precipitation is 

 heaviest in summer, next in fall, then in 

 spring, and least in winter. Snow con- 

 stitutes about half the precipitation in 

 the southern portion, about two-thirds 

 in latitude 73° N. Fog is rather com- 

 mon, especially along the coast in sum- 

 mer. In some localities along the 

 southern coast almost a third of the 

 days are foggy. 



Pressure 



The mean barometer for the southern 

 point of Greenland is 754.7 mm.; for 

 the mid-western part 759 mm. The 

 pressure may vary greatly and rapidly. 

 At Ivigtuk along the southern coast, 

 the lowest barometer is 709.2 mm.; the 

 highest is 758.8 mm. The average wind- 

 velocities are small and calm weather is 

 frequent. In summer the prevailing 

 winds along the west coast are souther- 

 lies and westerlies; in winter easterlies 

 prevail. In the fjords the winds usually 

 blow strong from the ice-cap to the sea, 

 even though at right angles to the 

 direction of the wind on the plateau 

 above. Except along the southernmost 

 stretches of coast the southerly winds 

 bring the worst storms, from seven to 

 ten a year; in the southern portion the 

 north and west winds bring storms, as 

 many as twenty a year. 



The inner reaches of the fjords differ 

 from the coastal headlands and the 

 skerries in having a higher summer 

 temperature and lower winter tempera- 

 ture; the humidity is considerably less, 

 so that bright, clear weather often 

 prevails while the coast is cloudy or 

 foggy; the days are more often calm; 

 and the snow melts away earlier. 



Day and night 



One of the most important factors in 

 the climate of Greenland is the sue- 



