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162 Part II. Chapter 2. 
is succeeded by the short dry season, when the thermometer remains almost 
stationary at about 80° F. In July, the heat increases to an extent well night 
unbearable. From the end of July to the beginning of October, the greatest 
rainfall of the season commences accompanied by destructive hurricanes. 
Out of a total of 355 hurricanes recorded during the last three hundred years, 
42 have occurred in July, 96 in August, 80 in September and 69 in October. 
These storms commence in the Atlantic and toward the east. They follow a 
westerly course for a day, or two, inclining at the same time, one or two points 
towards the north, the polar tendency becoming gradually more märked as the 
distance from the equator increases. When the hurricanes reach 25° N., they 
curve to the northeast and almost invariably wheel round on arriving at the 
northern portion of the Gulf of Mexico, after which they follow the coast line 
of North America. December marks the commencement of the long dıy 
season, which accompanied by fresh winds lasts till April. | 
a. Cuba. 
Extensive climatologic data are not available for Cuba. The eastern chain 
of mountains, the Sierra Maestra, probably presents conditions of temperature 
very nearly the same as the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. Every-where the 
rains are most abundant in summer the rainy season from May to October. 
The winds brought by the trade-winds are heavier and more frequent on the 
higher slopes of the eastern end, although these are more arid and near sea- 
level. At Havana, the annual rainfall is 51.73 inches and of the total 32.37 
inches fall in the wet season. The average number of rainy days in the year 
is 102. The warmest months at Havana in July and August, the average 
temperature is 82° F. (27.8° C.) fluctuating between a maximum of 88° F, 
(31.1° C.) and a minimum of 76° F. (24.4° C.), while a temperature as high a5 
100° F. (37.8°C.) has been recorded. In the cooler months of December and 
January, the thermometer averages 72° F. (22.2° C.) maximum being 78° F. 
(25.6° C.); the minimum 50° F. (10°C.). The average temperature of the year 
Se dr ei SER EE Are, 8 
At Santiago de Cuba, the temperature is apparently higher than on the 
northern and western cCoasts and from the meager data available appears ® 
be about 80° F. (26.7°C.) with an average difference between the warmest 
and coldest months of about 6°F, The prevailing. wind is the northeast trade, 
but from November to February, cool north winds are experienced in the 
western part of the island. Ordinarily from ten to twelve o’clock are the 
hottest hours of the day for in the afternoon a refreshing breeze (la virazon) 
sets in from the sea, e: 
b. Santo Domingo. 
The climate of the island of Santo Domingo is more diversified than that 
of any of the other islands of the Greater Antilles. It presents wide extremes 
of temperature, moisture and aridity. The heat at the capital of Haiti, Port 
