26 ALASKA, 



division, which mav be termed temperate Alaska. The temperature rarelv falls 

 to zero; winter does not set in until December i, and by the last of May the 

 snow has disappeared except on the mountains. The mean winter temperature 

 of Sitka is 32.5 degrees, but little less than that of Washington, D. C. While 

 Sitka is fully exposed to the sea influence, places farther inland, but not over 

 the coast range of mountains, as Killisnoo and Juneau, have also mild tempera- 

 tures throughout the winter months. The temperature changes from month to 

 month in temperate Alaska are small, not exceeding 25 degrees from midwinter 

 to midsummer. The average temperature of July, the warmest month of sum- 

 mer, rarely reaches 55 degrees, and the highest temperature of a single day 

 seldom reaches 75 degrees. 



The rainfall of temperate Alaska is notorious the world over, not only as 

 regards the quantity that falls, but also as to the manner of its falling, viz, in long 

 and incessant rains and drizzles. Cloud and fog naturally abound, there being 

 on an average but sixty-six clear days in the year. 



Alaska is a land of striking contrasts, both in climate as well as topography. 

 When the sun shines the atmosphere is remarkably clear ; the scenic effects are 

 magnificent; all nature seems to be in holiday attire. But the scene may change 

 very quickly; the sky becomes overcast; the winds increase in force; rain 

 begins to fall; the evergreens sigh ominously, and utter desolation and loneli- 

 ness prevail. 



North of the Aleutian Islands the coast climate becomes more rigorous in 

 winter, but in summer the difference is much less marked. Thus, at St. Michaels, 

 a short distance north of the mouth of the Yukon, the mean summer tempera- 

 ture is 50 degrees, but 4 degrees cooler than Sitka. The mean summer tem- 

 perature of Point Barrow, the most northerly point in the United States, is 

 36.8 degrees, but four-tenths of a degree less than the temperature of the air 

 flowing across the summit of Pikes Peak, Colo. 



The rainfall of the coast region north of the Yukon Delta is small, diminishing 

 to less than ten inches within the arctic circle. 



The climate of the interior, including in that designation practically all of the 

 country except a narrow fringe of coastal margin and the territory before 

 referred to as temperate Alaska, is one of extreme rigor in winter, with a brief, 

 but relatively hot, summer, especially when the sky is free from clouds. 



In the Klondike region in midwinter, the sun rises from 9.30 to 10 a. m., and 

 sets from 2 to 3 p. m., the total length of daylight being about four hours. 

 Remembering that the sun rises but a few degrees above the horizon, and that 

 it is wholly obscured on a great many days, the character of the winter months 

 may easily be imagined. 



We are indebted to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey for a series 

 of six months' observations on the Yukon, not far from the site of the present 



