Climate of Victoria 



347 



rain and snow fall in inches during 1905 

 in — ^ 



Rain. Siioi*-. 



Victoria 23 5 



Winnipeg - 16 42 



Montreal 25 130 



Sydney, N. S 36 125 



Boston 28 45 



New York 38 58 



Washington, D. C 47 41 



Norfolk, Va 42 12 



With the exception of Winni- 

 peg, the rainfall in Victoria is 

 less than that in any other city 

 mentioned, and Victoria's snow- 

 fall is the least of all. 



To go still further into de- 

 tail, the following table gives the 

 rain and snowfall in Victoria for 

 each month of 1905 and up to 

 December 19, 1906:* 



Mouth. Rain. Snow. 



January .... 2.89 4.50 

 February ... 3.27 



March i . 39 



April 0.21 



May 2.81 



June 1 .06 



July 0. 10 



August 1. 21 



September . . 4.03 



October 2.81 



November . . 0.91 

 December ... 2.82 



cess to Victoria. They give us a tem- 

 perature comparatively cool in summer 



Total. .22.51 4.50 25.48 3.20 



These remarkable conditions are so 

 startling that we at once look to the geo- 

 graphical features surrounding Victoria 

 for the answer to the question, "Why is 

 the climate different from that of any 

 other place that we have ever seen?" 



The accompanying map shows high 

 mountain ranges at a distance of 40 to 

 100 miles from Victoria, with an opening 

 to the Pacific between the Olympic 

 Mountains and the mountains of Van- 

 couver Island. In this opening lies the 

 Strait of Juan de Fuca (20 miles wide), 

 with low-lying lands and foothills on both 

 sides of it. Through this gap in the 

 mountains the prevailing southwest, west, 

 and northwest winds, modified by the 

 temperature of the ocean (60° F. in sum- 

 mer and 45° F. in winter), have free ac- 



Outline Map Showing the Situation of 

 VictoriarB. C. 



and warm in winter, and carry much of 

 their moisture beyond us, to be precip- 

 itated on the distant mountain ranges. 



The south winds from the Pacific in 

 passing over the lofty Olympic Moun- 

 tains drop their moisture there in the 

 form of rain or snow and come to us as 

 cool and dry winds. 



The following table will afford com- 

 parison between the precipitation at Vic- 

 toria and at stations nearer the mountain 

 ranges upon Vancouver Island and the 

 mainland :" 



PRECIPITATION DURING I905, IN INCHES 



Victoria, B. C 2' si 



Tatoosh, U. S. A 63!74 



Bamfield, B. C 53.43 



Nanaimo, B. C 42.80 



New Westminster, B. C 52.87 



