METEOROLOGY. 



11 



parts of the interior of the continent southward and the coast of southern California we have 

 a decided advantage. 



Spring. 



Summer. 



Autumn. 



Winter. 



Year. 



Laredo, Texas 



El Paso, New Mexico . 



Albuquerque 



Fort Yuma - 



San Diego, California 

 Monterey, California . 

 Benicia, California.. 



4.07 

 0.70 

 1.10 

 0.27 

 2.74 

 4.43 

 6.40 



7.33 

 3.56 

 5.45 

 1.30 

 0.55 

 0.21 

 0.01 



5.06 

 5.25 

 2.07 

 0.86 

 1.24 

 1.65 

 2.65 



2.20 

 1.70 

 0.80 

 0.72 

 5.90 

 5.91 

 7.56 



18.66 

 11.21 

 9.42 

 3.15 

 10.43 

 12.20 

 16.62 



All the interior of California has about the same amount as the last place quoted. 



In the comparison of climate, as deduced from these observations in the vicinity of the Rocky 

 mountains and thence to the Pacific, it must be remarked that the means of the series of 

 observations at 7, 2, 9 will not approach so near the means of the twenty-four hours as they do 

 in countries of more uniform surface. As is well known the nights are always cold among 

 mountain ranges, no matter how high the temperature may rise during the day. The only 

 series of observations from which corrections for the mean temperature of the twenty-four 

 hours can be approximately deduced is that made at Sacramento, California, by Dr. T. M. 

 Logan, and published in the Smithsonian Report for 1857. These have not been extensive 

 enough to warrant their adoption as constant, but they give a good idea of this great diurnal 

 range in the thermometer. From his series of hourly observations, made on only one day in 

 each month, it appears that the hours when the temperature approaches nearest the mean for 

 the day are: in — 



Spring, 7.30 to 9.53 a. m.; 8.16 to 9.19 p. m. 



Summer, 7.33 to 8.54 a. m; 8.6 to 8.47 p. m. 



Autumn, 8.42 to 10.47 a. m. ; 9.55 to 12.35 p. m. 



Winter, 10.45 to 11.30 a. m.; 9.30 to 12.30 p. m. 



The difference between the hourly mean and that derived from the three daily observations 

 is, for spring, 1° 20'; summer, 1° 24'; autumn, + 0° 16'; winter, + 0° 14'; year, +0° 56', to 

 be added or 'subtracted from the mean of observations made at the hours of 7, 2, and 9. At 

 Rochester, New York, it has been ascertained, by a long series of careful observations made 

 by Professor Dewey, to be, for observations made at the hours of 7, 2, 9, spring, — 0° 82'; 

 summer, — 0° 81'; autumn, — 0° 51'; winter, — 0° 47'; year, — 0° 65. If, as is most probable, 

 the Sacramento corrections approach nearest to the truth for the interior of Washington 

 Territory, we have an unexpected additional testimony in favor of its winter climate, as well 

 as its mean annual temperature. 



The deduction of 1.24 from the summer heat is, however, less than was to be expected. 

 The cold nights show their principal effects on vegetation, in the fact that Indian corn, 

 and perhaps some other crops, which are the chief products between the latitudes of New 

 York and Baltimore, where the summer heat is similar, are not certain crops, though cultivated 

 even at Fort Colville and at other places to the southward. They succeed well, however, in 

 Walla- Walla and the Nez Perces country. 



Dr. Logan says of Sacramento: "One of the most striking features of the climate is the 



