The winter and summer temperatures are of especial interest 

 and will be discussed more fully. 



The prominent feature of the winter temperature at arctic sta- 

 tions in the vicinity of the coast is that the temperatures remain 

 nearly constant for a considerable length of time. The coldest 

 month of the year, on the average, is not January, but February. 

 For many stations it is March, and in some years even April has 

 a lower mean than January. Bear Island is one case in particular 

 which shows this tendency. The high pressure cell in the Arctic 

 Sea has become well developed by late winter and as the mean 

 position of the arctic front shifts southward conditions favorable 

 to the producing of these low temperatures as late as March and 

 April are found. 



On the European continent there is no mountain barrier near 

 the coast and the warm North Atlantic Drift has a marked in- 

 fluence on the temperature of central and northwestern Europe. 

 The prevailing westerly winds carry the oceanic influence far in- 

 land. In the south, on the other hand, the prevailing northeast 

 winds originate in the heart of the continent and consequently are 

 quite cold. These facts account for the marked northwest to 

 southeast trend of the winter isotherms in Russia and western ana 

 central Siberia. The temperature decreases with marked uni- 

 formity as one advances toward northeastern Siberia, until the 

 region around Verkhoyansk, known as the cold pole or center of 

 extreme cold of the northern hemisphere, is reached. Here the 

 January average is minus 58° F., and never in this month has the 

 temperature risen higher than 2° F. above zero. The absolute 

 minimum of minus 90° F. is the lowest reading ever taken of the 

 surface of the earth. With a July average of 60° F. the annual 

 mean range of 118° F. is the greatest for any station. Also, the 

 absolute range is the largest ever recorded, from minus 90° F. to 

 90° F. above, or 180° F. 



That this area should have the most extreme winters known 

 to man is readily understood from its geographical location. The 

 heat of the North Atlantic cannot penetrate the 3,000 miles of 

 frozen continent; the Pacific Ocean has no appreciable effect, since 

 ranges of hills intervene and winds are prevailingly offshore ; the 

 ice-covered Arctic Ocean certainly cannot ameliorate the harsh 

 conditions; and the lofty ranges of central Asia check any in- 

 fluence from the warm Indian Ocean far to the south. The char- 

 acteristic lag of seasons, so highly pronounced on the arctic coast 

 and conspicuous at any locality with maritime influence, is almost 



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