

WINDS. 09 



the Drontheim fiord to the Arctic Circle. To the north of 

 the Arctic Circle their frequency diminishes considerably; 

 and on the coast of Finmark thunder is never heard excep- 

 ting in very hot summers. In South Varanger, on the 

 contrary, the summer storms are more frequent, and there 

 thunder is heard as often as in Southern Norway. 



Lightning rarely strikes the ground, still it causes many 

 accidents in the course of years, especially in winter 

 thunder storms ; and on the coasts of Southern Norway 

 many churches have been struck by lightning. 



The occurrence of thunder storms has a marked diurnal 

 time during summer. The greater number are in the 

 afternoon, and there are fewest during the night. During 

 winter the nocturnal storms seem to be as frequent as 

 those which occur during the day. The hail accompany*, 

 ing thunder storms in Norway is in quantity insignificant. 



Next in importance to thunder storms and storms of 

 rain, are storms of wind. These storms attain their 

 greatest frequency in Norway in the month of November, 

 during which there may be 4r5 days of storm counted on. 

 They are least frequent in summer, when they average "8 

 days per month. This frequency increases in autumn and 

 decreases in spring in a regular way. There is no marked 

 frequency of storms during or immediately after the 

 equinoxes. 



The frequency of storms and the force of the wind 

 follow the same law. The frequency attains its maximum 

 on the coasts of Nordland and of Finmark, where there are 

 on an average 46 in the year ; the west coast follows with 

 an average of 27 per annum ; their number diminishes on 

 the coast of the Skagerack, where there occur about 15 in 

 the course of the year; and lastly, in the interior they are 

 comparatively rare, numbering in Christiania from 2 to 3, 

 and on the Dovre mountains from 5 to 6 a year. 



The direction followed by them is generally that of the 

 dominant winds: here let it suffice to state that from 

 Christiania to Vardo, coming generally in winter, they 



