CLIMATE. 287 



in the northern parts the snow falls in the beginning of 

 September, and disappears only in the beginning of June. 

 For reasons which will at once suggest themselves, the 

 climate on the coast is more mild and more equable than 

 it is in the interior of the country the winter less severe, 

 the summer more cool, the autumn and the spring more 

 prolonged and variable. The times at which the ice on the 

 rivers and lakes breaks up has not changed much in the 

 southern part of the country. In the districts of Hel- 

 singfors and Borga for a number of years there has been 

 no change, while to the east it has been later, and to the 

 west somewhat earlier, in breaking up. In the sea the ice 

 is often floating about so late as June, and blocks up 

 the narrow channels. A north-west wind delays the 

 appearance of summer, the east wind is characterised by 

 damp, the south-west wind by warmth. 



The warmest place in Finland is the town of Abo, where 

 the medium temperature in winter is 5 7' Celsius, while 

 in Helsingfors it is 7 2' Celsius, and in Tornea it is 

 17. The highest temperature throughout the country 

 in summer is 30* Celsius in the shade. In February 1844, 

 which was one of the severest winters in Finland, the 

 thermometer sank in Helsingfors to 37, and in Ulea- 

 borg it was three successive days below the freezing point 

 of mercury. In Helsingfors, the climate of which, accord- 

 ing to the observations of Professor Hallstrb'm, is one of 

 the most steady and regular observed anywhere, there are 

 annually 93 clear days, 83 half clear, and 189 cloudy. In 

 Abo there are 103 clear, 109 half clear, and 153 cloudy. 



In the course of the last hundred years the climate has 

 become perceptibly milder, and if it can be shown that 

 there is a periodical alternation of warm and cold days, it 

 can be shown that the cold does not destroy the fields so 

 frequently as formerly. The drying up of many swamps, 

 the increased cultivation of the soil, and the destruction of 

 the woods, have all had a beneficial influence on the 

 climate. 



The following more explicit information is supplied by 



