8 CLIMATE OF MICHIGAN. 



City; while, passing eastward, it is carried so far to the south by the com- 

 bined influences of Lakes Huron and Erie, that it crosses the eastern bound- 

 ary of Michigan very nearly in the latitude of Detroit. Again the summer 

 isotherm of Go degrees, which, westerly of the lakes, occurs at Duluth, in 

 latitude 47 degrees, is also that of Traverse Uity, on the east of Lake Michi- 

 gan, in latitude 45 degrees; while it crosses the lake in the latitude of Mil- 

 waukee (43 degrees). 



If now we turn our attention to the lines of equal wititer temperature, we 

 will discover a wonderfully contrasted position of the indicating lines. The 

 winter isotherm of 24 degrees will be found slightly south of Omaha, in lati- 

 tude 40 degrees, or a little above, and passes just westward of Chicago (lati- 

 tude 42 degrees), thence it passes almost directly north, reaching the easterly 

 shore of the lake but a few miles southward of Traverse City, in latitude 44^ 

 degrees, trending southward, in the central part of the State, below the par- 

 allel of 43 degrees; thence again northward, crossing Lake Huron in the 

 latitude of Alnena (45 degrees), while the isotherm of 23 degrees, passing 

 only a few miles north of Omaha, is found easterly and southerly of Mil- 

 waukee, and makes the Traverse region considerably northward of Traverse 

 City, passing just eastward of Saginaw and Bay City, and crossing Lake 

 Huron in latitude 45 degrees. On the other hand, the winter isotherm of 26 

 degrees, which occurs south of Omaha, in latitude 40 degrees, or thereabouts, 

 strikes the lake shore nearly a degree of longitude eastward of Chicago, and 

 makes the eastern shore and at the same time its limit northward at or near 

 Muskegon, opposite Milwaukee, whose isotherm, as before stated, is 23 

 degrees. From this point the line of 26 degrees trends southward to near 

 the north line of Indiana and Ohio, and thence again northward near the 

 east line of the State, crossing Lake Huron considerably above latitude 44 

 degrees. 



From the data already given we deduce the conclusion that Michigan (and 

 in a very special sense the more immediate vicinity of its bordering lakes), 

 possesses a climate compounded of the average temperature of the summer of 

 the Ked River country of the North (latitude 48 degrees), and that of the 

 winter of southern Illinois and Indiana. Its mantle of forest also may 

 doubtless be largely attributed to the increments of moisture imparted to 

 the winds in traversing the circumjacent waters, while the comparative 

 exemption of the State from the occurrence of tornadoes and cyclones is 

 doubtless due to the equalizing influence of these surroundings. 



It is, to a great extent true, however, that the adaptation of a region to the 

 ■cultivation of fruits is quite as dependent upon the limit of such tempera- 

 ture, especially downward, as upon the average of the season. With the 

 more tender fruits, such as the apricot, nectarine, peach, and even the maz- 

 zard class of cherries, this is eminently true. If, now, we turn our atten- 

 tion to the isotherms representing this extreme minimum (the figures indi- 

 cating the range of the thermometer below zero), we will discover that the 

 line of 27 degrees, representing northern Missouri and southern Nebraska, 

 represents also the minimum of the westerly and northerly shores of Lake 

 Michigan and Green Bay, from Milwaukee to Mackinaw, while the entire 

 eastern shore of the lake, from St. Joseph to beyond Little Traverse Bay 

 (latitute 45^ degrees) is covered by the minimum of 16 degrees — the same 

 time extending along the eastern shore of the State, via. Alpena, Tawas, 

 Detroit, Monroe and Toledo, and thence northeasterly, leaving Ohio at the 



