134 CLIMATIC CONDITIONS OF ALASKA 



quent, the summers are longer and warmer, the skies less cloudy, 

 and the winters marked with excessive cold, though the winds 

 are much lighter and storms are infrequent. Continuous freezing 

 weather, usually below zero, continues' for months, and even in 

 July, with midday temperatures of 70° to 80°, it is an almost 

 daily occurrence for the temperature to fall during the night to 

 the neighborhood of the freezing point. 



Let us now turn from general statements to specific data from 

 such selected stations as are acknowledged as climatically typi- 

 cal of various parts of Alaska. In so doing one turns naturally 

 to Dall's admirable article and tables on the meteorology of 

 Alaska, published in the Pacific Coast Pilot, 1879. Although his 

 work and charts are 21 years old, yet they are the only discus- 

 sion and data that have ever been published on the general me- 

 teorological conditions of Alaska. 



St Paul island, Bering sea, has a typical marine climate; its 

 lowest recorded temperature is — 12° and its maximum 62°. The 

 temperature rarely exceeds 50°, and in 1875 it only reached 48°. 

 February is the coldest month, with an average temperature of 

 26.1°, and August the warmest, with a mean of 48.4°. 



Sitka is a typical coast station for extreme southern Alaska 

 and Point Barrow fox the northern. In 45 years Sitka had ex- 

 treme temperatures of 88° and — 4°. The coldest month is Janu- 

 ary, 31.4°, and the warmest August, 54.9°. Every year it is either 

 rain}^ or snowy 200 days on an average. In 1856 rain and snow 

 fell on no less than 286 days, but in 1883 there were only 114 

 such days. The annual .rainfall is very great, being 81 inches, 

 of which about one-half falls from September to December. 



Point Barrow, the extreme northern point of Alaska, is in 71° 

 23' N., 156° 40' W., and its climate is important as indicating 

 closely that of the coast-line of the whole tundra or moorland 

 region situated along the Arctic ocean. It should be remem- 

 bered that as one goes inland the winter becomes colder and 

 clearer; the summers, Avarmer and drier. The observations of 

 Capt. P. H. Ray, 1881-'83, and of H. M. S. Plover, 1852-'54, are 

 the base of the following notes : The winter is long, as freezing 

 weather obtains from early September to early June, when sum- 

 mer comes in full force. The mean winter temperatures are : 

 December, —15.4°; January, —17.5°; and February, —18.6°, 

 with occasional periods when the cold is from 40 to 52 degrees 

 b3low zero. The average heat of July is 38.1°, and of August 

 37.9° ; but the temperature often rises above 50° and has touched 



