WEATHER RECORDS 21 



to determine very accurately the normal temperature and rainfall 

 for almost any locality in the United States. 



A similar system is in operation by the Canadian Government, and 

 information as to the climate of almost any inhabited locality in the 

 Canadian provinces may be had on application to the Director of the 

 Canadian Meteorological Service, Toronto. 



The data are usually compiled by months. For example, the normal 

 temperature and rainfall by months for Ithaca, N. Y., are as follows : 

 Normal or average temperature, 31 years record : January, 24° ; 

 February, 25° ; March, 32° ; April, 44° ; May, 57° ; June, 66° ; 

 July, 71° ; August, 68° ; September, 61° ; October, 50° ; November, 

 38° ; December, 28° ; Annual, 47°. Normal or average precipitation 

 in inches and hundredths of inches, including melted snow : January, 

 2.07 ; February, 1.84 ; March, 2.42 ; April, 2.30 ; May, 3.39 ; June, 

 3.73 ; July, 3.51 ; August, 3.06 ; September, 2.89 ; October, 2.96 ; 

 November, 2.50 ; December, 2.30 ; Annual, 32.97. 



These values would be considered approximately correct for a radius 

 of twenty to fifty miles, depending principally on the topography, 

 whether mountainous or level, and the proximity of large bodies of 

 water and the prevailing wind direction. It is recognized that there 

 may be an appreciable difference between the climate of a valley and 

 thatof an adjacent hill, or, on account of differences of soil character, 

 between one farm and another in the same locality. Such local va- 

 riations are usually small, although important, particularly in such 

 matters as air drainage and frost, and can be determined only by 

 observations made on the spot. The averages, compiled by the 

 Weather Bureau, include observations made on hill-tops as well as in 

 valleys, and, therefore, represent strictly average conditions. They 

 have been carefully computed, and may be relied upon with confidence. 



How climatic data may be secured. 



The Climatological Service of the U. S. Weather Bureau is organ- 

 ized by sections, each section embracing a single state, except in the 

 case of some of the smaller states, which are included in one section. 

 The New England States make up one section ; also Delaware, Mary- 

 land, and the District of Columbia. The work of each section is under 

 the supervision of a section director, in whose office are kept all records 

 pertaining to his section. The accompanying list gives the city in 



