Postelsta ike 
influence of the ocean, has cool summers and 
very mild winters, with exceedingly heavy rain- 
fall which is heaviest in winter, but abundant 
even in summer. ‘There are limited areas along 
this coast where frost is very rare, or almost un 
known, but in most places there are two or three 
weeks of frosty weather each winter. 
As the summer clouds and fogs are generally 
low-lying and are intercepted by hills fifteen 
hundred to two thousand feet high, the interior 
of the island has much hotter and dryer summers 
than the west coast, while the winters are some- 
what more severe than in that region. 
Mountains of moderate height even near the 
coast have a climate much like the interior of 
theisland. In winter their climate is more 
severe than that of the adjacent lowlands, and 
there is a very heavy snowfall, but in summer as 
they stand above the comparatively thin layer of 
sea-cooled air, with its fogs and frequent rains, 
they are much warmer and drier than the low- 
lands. Above three thousand feet the usual 
alpine changes in the climate begin to appear, 
and above five thousand feet there is considerable 
perpetual snow. 
