The Climate of Montana 



Contrary to Popular Impression, the Treasure State Is Not in 



the Arctic Zone; Instead, Its CHmate Is the Same 



as That of the Central States. 



^,,____,„^,^ EATHER conditions in Montana have probably 



I fa 1/ I been the basis of more erroneous statements 



^^BHE^V I 1 .|L' I « T I regarding this state than all other causes 



/S^^^^^L^i ^^f^Ll-^'^i^^^ combined, and those who have endeavored to 



spread the truth about the Treasure State have 

 had more difficulty in convincing the unin- 

 formed that Montana is not in the Arctic 

 zone than in establishing any other fact con- 

 cerning this commonwealth. 



Through one of those not unusual freaks 

 of popular misunderstanding, years ago there 

 spread throughout the land a legend which 

 made a "Montana blizzard" a by-word, a ter- 

 rible something to be dreaded, to be endured 

 by only the most hardy. Montana winters 

 were pictured as being long and excessively 

 cold, and its summers something to be vainly 

 hoped for. Nothing could be further from the 

 truth, for even in winter, the uncomfortably 

 cold day is the exception rather than the rule in Montana, and the summers and 

 autumns of Montana are the most delightful to be found on the continent. 



As a matter of fact, amply verified by the records of the United States weather 

 bureau, Montana has a milder climate than eastern states of the same latitude. In 

 truth, the clomate of this state corresponds very closely with that of Iowa and Illi- | 

 nois, with this important exception — while the cold weather in these states is of the 

 damp and penetrating kind, the cold weather in Montana is dry. There is printed on 

 the following page a diagram, prepared by the section director of the United States 

 weather bureau, showing the normal mean January temperature of the United States, with , 

 lines drawn on the map through points of equal mean temperature. A glance at this 

 map will show that western Montana has the same mean mid-winter temperature as j 

 southern Wyoming, southern Nebraska, and central Iowa; while Central Montana 

 has the same average mid-winter temperature as the southern part of South Dakota, 

 northern Iowa, Illinois, southern Michigan and New York. 



In any discussion of Montana climate, however, much consideration must be given 

 the great area of the state and the great range of altitudes here. Montana is two-thirds 

 as large as the German empire; its altitude ranges from the high peaks of the main j 

 range of the Rocky Mountains, which crosses the state from north to south, to great 

 areas of plains in the eastern section, and valleys in both the eastern and western 

 sections which are but approximately 2,000 feet above sea-level. 



In Montana there are high mountain peaks which reach above the level of per- 

 petual snow; there are sheltered valleys in which the wind scarcely stirs a leaf; there 

 are great plains, level as a floor, and there are many foothills and stretches of rolling 



