44 NOTES ON TEE KUBIL ISLANDS. 



V. 



CLIMATE, WEATHER, TIDES, ETC. 



The climate of the Kuril Islands is decidedly a moist one, although 

 it cannot be said that the rainfall is large. 



The spring is cold and boisterous; during the early part 

 north-westerly winds prevail, and there is but little fog. Through- 

 out the latter half the winds are very variable, with occasional 

 spells of snow, rain, and fog. 



Large ice-fields are brought across the Okhotsk Sea in February, 

 and these become blocked on the South-West Kurils and east coast 

 of Yezo, and it is sometimes well into May before all the ice has 

 cleared off from this vicinity. 



Fog almost constantly prevails throughout the summer, and, 

 generally speaking, it is only with a fresh north-west wind that 

 it clears off entirely at this season. The clear spells, however, are 

 of short duration. 



The autumn is the finest season, bright, clear, pleasant weather, 

 with westerly winds, this sometimes continuing even until the 

 middle of November. 



The winter is cold, and north-west winds blow throughout the 

 greater part of it. During the winter the writer spent on the 

 island of Yetorup, there were many fine days when the weather 

 was quite warm, the sun in that latitude — 45° north — having, of 

 course, considerable power. The nights, however, were very cold, 

 although it was seldom the thermometer fell to zero Fahrenheit. 



The following is a rough summary and average of the weather 

 for each month of the year, gathered from log-books and notes 

 extending over a period of fifteen years. 



Spring Months, ilfarc/i.— Sixteen days of west and north- 

 west winds, seven south-east, five east, and three variable. Snow 

 or rain falls on ten days, and two days are foggy. 



