CHAPTER V. 



CLIMATOLOGY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



BY J. H. HUNTINGTON. 



IHE great south-west current, that bears northward the moisture 

 from the gulf, and renders fertile not only the great valley of the 

 Mississippi but also the Atlantic states, the physical contour of the 

 country and its proximity to the ocean, determine chiefly the climate of 

 New Hampshire. Yet there is still another cause, though more remote, 

 that may have a greater influence than we might at first suppose. The 

 great current from the Pacific, at first moisture laden, comes in contact 

 with the mountain ranges extending north and south. The cold summits 

 condense the moisture, and when the current reaches the third great 

 range it is deprived almost altogether of its moisture ; yet this great cur- 

 rent affects the climate eastward, for it is in the immediate vicinity of 

 this mountain range that by far the greater proportion of the atmos- 

 pheric disturbances are generated, the influence of which extends to the 

 Atlantic coast, and gives us the precipitation of moisture that renders 

 fertile our valleys, hill-sides, and mountain slopes. 



After passing the third mountain range, the air, deprived of its mois- 

 ture, allows the rays of the sun to pass through it, and very little heat is 

 absorbed until they come near the surface of the earth. The thin 

 stratum of air that contains moisture becomes heated, and at intervals it 



