CHAPTER XV 
CLIMATE—DOMESTIC DETAILS 
CurmatE.—Almost everywhere in the interior of the 
province the climate is healthy in the extreme. It is 
chiefly characterized by hot dry summers; cold dry 
winters ; a comparative absence of wind; and a wide 
daily range of temperature. The days in summer are, 
generally speaking, bright and sunny ; yet, owing to the 
dryness of the atmosphere, the heat is seldom close and 
hardly ever oppressive. The nights are invariably cool 
and pleasant. In winter there is a considerable amount 
of sunshine. Snow falls, as a rule, shortly before Christ- 
mas, and remains until the middle of March. Although 
there are snowfalls earlier, the snow does not as a rule 
stay. Sharp frosts come off and on from October, occa- 
sionally even in September; but from the middle of 
December to the middle of March the ground is mostly 
frost-bound. The air is usually dry and still, and the cold 
is not felt at all severely, except when a blizzard sets in. 
But blizzards are, happily, rare, the average being two or 
three days a year. When they do blow, the wind is very 
keen and penetrating, and the thermometer nearly always 
drops below zero. At other times the thermometer 
ranges between 32° and about 5° or 6° F. 
The rainfall, including snowfall, which is calculated at 
82 
