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THE TREASURE STATE 



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Lines Pass Through Points of Equal Mean January Temperature. 



land. All these have their own effect on the climate of the State, making for differ- 

 ent temperatures and different weather conditions in different sections of the State. 

 The most pronounced of these diversified conditions is due to the influence of the 

 main range of the Rocky Mountains, on the western slope of which there is, generally 

 speaking, much milder winter weather and considerable more precipitation than on 

 the eastern. 



The climate of Montana is conducive to good health. Fogs are practically un- 

 known, and malarial conditions are entirely absent. The winter season is not one 

 of continued cold. Bright, sunshiny days in December, January and February are the 

 rule rather than the exception. When the State is visited by a snow strom the tem- 

 perature may drop considerably below zero, but these cold spells are not only infre- 

 quent, but are also short, being rapidly modified by what is known as the "chinook" 

 wind, a western breeze, which warmed by the Japanese current in the North Pacific, 

 spreads its modifying influence as far east as the Dakotas. 



Montana is blessed with bounteous sunshine, there being sections of the State 

 where an average of more than 300 days of clear weather is experienced each year. 

 The altitude makes for a clear, dry atmosphere, and the disheartening, cloudy, damp 

 day is seldom witnessed here. 



Many enthusiastic tributes have been paid Montana's climate. A federal govern- 

 ment report contains the following: 



"The light snowfall in the valleys throughout the state during the winter months 

 is usually speedily evaporated by the Chinook winds which are prevalent from Oregon 

 to Nebraska, from the Peace River to Arizona, being particularly common in Montana, 

 where they do much to modify the climate." 



In his book, "The Treasure State," James H. Mills said: 



"The average temperature in Montana is about the same as in New York or Penn- 



