STATE AGRICULTURAL BOCIETY. .'! - _'7 



time this wind precedes it. When the wind veers to the west or north- 

 west, clear weather follows in a few hours. During the Winter there is no 



fog, and very seldom is there mist. When it rains, the downpour is inces- 

 sant. The greatest amount registered by the lighthouse gauge for any one 



day was 2.97 inches on the twenty-fourth of December, 1885. On the same 

 day the Signal Service Station registered 4.16 inches. Such an amount is 

 unusual, though frequently the register marks an inch or more for even 

 one day's storm. To really comprehend how much an inch of rain is, it 

 must he remembered that on every acre, during a storm that registers an 

 inch, nearly twenty-seven thousand gallons of water fall: or. on a square 

 mile, about twenty million four hundred and twenty thousand gallons. 

 Did one hundred and seven inches fall, the result would he fearful to con- 

 template. No dependence is to be placed on the si..")'.) inches of rain 

 supposed to have been registered at Cam]) Lincoln, six miles from Crescent 

 City, which has been so often quoted in tables of rainfall. That figure 

 and the accompanying details were the result of pure imagination. 



As to the comparative value of the figures in the above table with refer- 

 ence to the real amount of rainfall, little can he said. It is probable that 

 the figures of the lighthouse come nearer representing the average rainfall 

 than do those of the Signal Service. They certainly more nearly agree 

 with the reports sent from our coast stations. It is probable that a like 

 uncertainty exists as to the amount of rainfall iiC other localities, were it 

 possible to sift all facts. For instance, there is a difference of ten inches 

 between the rainfall of the lighthouse near Eureka and a gauge kept in 

 that town. 



Too implicit confidence is liable to result in fallacious inductions. 



Wet and Dry Seasons. — From the middle of May till the middle of Sep- 

 tember, rain seldom falls. The Winter rains, as a rule, do not commence 

 before October or November. It has been asserted by a high authority 

 that south of Cape Mendocino, latitude 40° 20'. but little rain falls during 

 the three Summer months, while north of this point the rains are more 

 evenly distributed throughout the various seasons. Rains are as unusual 

 during June, July, and August, on our upper coast as in San Francisco. 

 The same record that gives Crescent City one hundred and seven inches 

 of rain for the Winter months, makes the rainfall for the three Summer 

 months of 1882, .81; 1883, .41; 1884, 2.39; 1885, .80 inches. 



In Shasta Valley, due east, but separated from this coast by the Siski- 

 you Mountains, Summer rains are of frequent occurrence. 



Dry Summers and Winter Rains. — Where, within the tropics, the north- 

 eastern and southeastern trade winds meet, is a region of calms and rains. 

 This belt of calms and rains, as has been stated, moves northward and 

 southward with the sun's declination. Where, within the temperate zone, 

 the northern and northwesterly winds from the polar regions meet the west- 

 erly return trade winds, is a region of storms and rains. These belts also 

 follow the sun's declination north and south. Applying these laws to this 

 coast: At our midsummer, the vertical sun would be on the tropic of Cancer, 

 and, in that vicinity, the northeasterly and southeasterly trade winds would 

 meet, create ascending currents, consequently calms; this air, laden with 

 moisture, would rise into cooler regions, when a portion of its moisture would 

 be precipitated, making tropical rains; it would then flow north and south 

 towards the poles. Confining our views to that portion which would flow 

 toward the north pole, the larger part of it must descend to the earth within 

 30° of latitude, under the law, as stated by Professor Henry; as in going 

 north it continually has to pass over a portion of the earth which is moving 

 less rapidly than the portion it has left, it is deflected and becomes a south- 



