Climate and Vegetation dlc 
BERNARD HARBOUR 
CLIMATE 
In October the winter may be said to begin in earnest, though the tempera- 
ture during the first week of the month generally is not lower than the freezing 
point (1914-15). As the month advances the temperature keeps steadily below 
32°F ., but above zero, only exceptionally going below the latter point at the end 
of the month. The highest temperature for October was recorded at the begin- 
ning of the month, 1914, with 41°F., and the lowest at the end of the month, 
1915, with —13°F. The weather is mostly overcast, sometimes with snow and 
fog, though regular snowstorms are rare. The new ice forms on the sea at the 
beginning or middle of the month, and its gradual increase in thickness has a 
steadying influence on the temperature and keeps the latter down. Southern 
winds generally raise the temperature a little, but otherwise the direction of 
the wind has little influence on it. A comparison of the weather in October 
1914 and 1915 shows that the temperature was generally lower and that the 
winter came earlier the latter year. This difference affected plant life in the 
beginning of the month; in 1914 it held out longer than in 1915. 
A comparison of the weather in November 1914 and 1915 shows that the 
two months were rather similar, apart from more stormy weather in 1914 than 
in 1915 and milder temperature in the beginning of the month in 1914 than in 
1915, though the last days of the month were milder in 1915 than in 1914. The 
records also show a decided drop in the temperature, to zero and below, after 
the first week of the month. The highest temperature recorded was 23°F., at 
the beginning of November, 1914, and the lowest was —27°F., at the end of 
November, 1914, and in the third week of the month, 1915. 
The temperature in December was generally lower in 1915 than in 1914, 
but the winds were considerably stronger in 1914. The highest temperature, 
26°F., was recorded in the second week of December, 1914, and the lowest, 
—37°F., in the third week of the month, 1915. 
The month of January, 1915, was considerably colder and calmer and 
had more clear days and more snowfall than the same month, 1916, though in 
the latter year the drift was more frequent and stronger. The differences 
between January 1915 and January 1916 were particularly striking from the 
second week on. In 1915 all the maximum temperatures were below zero from 
the second week on, whereas in 1916 they all were above during the same period. 
The lowest temperature, —46°F., was recorded in the end of January, 1915, and 
the highest, 12°F., in the second week of the month, 1916. 
A comparison of the weather during February, 1915, with that of February, 
1916, shows that the beginning of the month was much stormier and less cold 
in 1916. On the other hand, during the rest of the month the temperature was 
generally considerably lower in 1916, the minimum for the winter of 1915-16 
being reached then, almost a month later than in the winter of 1914-15. The 
highest temperature, 5°F., was recorded in the second week of February, 1915, 
and in the first week of February, 1916, the lowest, —48°F., in the third week of 
February, 1916. 
In the month of March there was a marked rise in the temperature from 
the middle of the month on, with maximum temperatures above zero both in 
1915 and 1916. In 1915, the temperature went lower and the weather was less 
stormy and more clear than in 1916. The lowest temperature,—42°F., was 
recorded in the first week of March, 1915, and the highest, 29°F., in the third 
week of the month the same year. 
In April, both 1915 and 1916, there was a gradual rise in the temperature 
with occasional, unexpectedly warm days, generally in the latter half of the 
month. On the other hand, there were also occasional days with rather wintry 
weather. The predominance of easterly winds was very characteristic, and the 
