May . 



. N. n° E. 



.OH 



Sept. . 



. N. 



12° W. 



.10 



June . 



. N. 10" W. 



.221 



Oct. . 



. S. 



n° w. 



.14 



July . 



. N. 6° W. 



.24 



Nov. . 



S. 



24° E. 



.03 



Aug. . 



. N. 29° W. 



.19 



Dec. . 



. s. 



34° E. 



.08. 



726 WINDSOFTHEGLOBE. 



It is necessary to consider separately the different parts of Southern and Eastern 

 Kussia. 



In the Crimea there are more easterly winds in summer than elsewhere. It must 

 be remembered that this is a small peninsula, which can receive sea-winds from 

 east and west. The high chain of mountains rising above the southern coast does 

 not permit sea-winds from this direction to reach stations to the- northward, as 

 Sevastopol and Simferopol.^ 



The opposition of E. and W. winds is not only observed in the Crimea, but also 

 in all that region of S. Hussia between the Dnieper and the Don, and between the 

 Black and Azof seas, and latitude 51° N. This is not the case in the steppes on the 

 lower Volga and further east (Orenburg, Astrachan). 



At Astrachan N. E. winds prevail in winter, and S. E. in summer. These last 

 are monsoons from the Caspian Sea. 



At Orenburg the prevailing winds are E. and N. E. in winter, and N. and W. 

 in summer. The results of this station are especially valuable, the observations 

 being made during twenty years and carefully discussed.^ The mean direction in 

 the different months is : — 



Jan. . . N. 85° E. .19 



Feb. . . S. 80° E. .14^ 



March . . N 84° E. .24^ 



April . . N. 79° E. .19^ 



Thus in the first four months the direction is nearly due E., the ratio moderately 

 great in March ; May to September have northerly winds, with a ratio in July 

 equal to that of March, and S. S. E. in November and December. October stands 

 by itself, having a mean direction from the W. S. W. The percentage of S. W. 

 winds is 20.5, while it is but 18 in winter and 11 in summer. It seems that Oren- 

 burg is at this time to the north of the belt of high barometer then existing on the 

 shores of the Black and Caspian seas. Lugan, Astrachan and other more southerly 

 places have prevailing east winds, with little rain and a small amount of clouds. 

 In the winter months Orenburg is then to the S. of the zone of highest pressure, 

 as the winds are E. and N. E. (See Plates 5, 6 and 7.) The division-line runs 

 between Orenburg and Samara, the last named place having prevailing S. W. 

 winds in autumn and winter. The very northerly winds of summer are probably 

 caused by the position of Orenburg just north of the dry and highly heated Kirghiz 

 steppes. They are not found at other stations of Southern Russia nor in Central 

 Asia, while northerly winds are more common in AVestern Siberia in the summer. 



North of 53° in Kussia the direction of the wind is about the same as prevails 

 in Western and Central Europe, S. W. in -winter, W. and N. W. in summer, as 

 shown on Plate 9. The stations on the northern border of the steppes indicate 

 this. The annexed table gives the percentages of the winds in Northern Russia : — 



' For further details about the winds of the Crimea, see the elaborate memoir of W. Koeppen in 

 the new Repertorium fiir Metcorol., vol. i. 



" By A. Ovodof in the Memoirs of the Orenburg Section, Russian Geographical Society, v. i. 



