The General Geography of Alaska 



87 



Photo bv C. Hart Merriam 



Juneau 



at Sitka is from a trifle below zero Fah- 

 renheit to 90° above, and the monthly 

 mean temperatures range from 31° to 

 56° only, illustrating the wonderfully 

 uniform temperature of the Pacific coast. 

 At Kadiak, 16 degrees farther west and 

 a degree farther north, the mean tem- 

 perature is 2° lower and the extreme 

 range of temperature less. AtUnalaska, 

 3 degrees south of Sitka, the mean tem- 

 perature is only 36° and the range of 

 temperature is still smaller. 



While the mean annual temperature 

 on this coast, whose latitude ranges from 

 54° to 60°, does not differ materially 

 from that of Eastport, Maine, on the 

 Atlantic coast, in latitude 45°, the sum- 

 mer temperature is much colder and 

 the winter temperature much warmer. 

 The statement has been made that it is 



no colder at Sitka than in Georgia. I 

 believe this to be true in the sense that 

 the minimum temperature is no lower ; 

 but it represents only a part of the facts, 

 and much the less important part. It is 

 also true that it is no warmer at Sitka 

 than in Greenland or Labrador — that is, 

 the maximum temperature is no greater; 

 and for most economic purposes, except 

 the making of ice, it is warmth, not 

 cold, that concerns us. 



The annual rainfall is heavy over this 

 entire coast. At Sitka it is more than 

 double that of the Atlantic coast, 105 

 inches a year being the record, and it 

 diminishes but little westward. At Una- 

 laska the record is 92 inches. Rain falls 

 mainly in the autumn and winter, the 

 summer being comparatively dry. 



A description of climate would be in- 



