;;l' Agricultural Manual 



1 lie tempering effecl ot the Great Lakes, over which the pre- 

 vailing winds blow, is similar, except in degree, to that of the 

 Pacific Ocean, and is plainly evident in the more equable climate 

 of those parts of New York State bordering on Lakes Ontario and 

 Erie. 



The effeel oi elevation is to cause an average decrease in tem- 

 perature of about 1 degree for each .'500 feet of ascent. For a 

 state like \e\v York, with the elevation of its land surface ranging 

 from sea level to more than 5,000 feet, this becomes an important 

 factor in the local climate of many sections, as is clearly indicated 

 by the wide difference between the temperature condition of the 

 plateau divisions and adjacent lowlands. 



Xew Fork State is supplied with moisture principally by the 

 winds that come from the Atlantic Ocean through the action of 

 cyclonic Btorms, the prevailing westerlies playing but a small pari 

 in the rainfall of the state. 



Cyclonic storm- are vast whirlwinds turning counter-clockwise 

 and covering perhaps one-half of the United States at one time. 

 The winds blow from all sides spirally inward toward the center 

 of the storm, ascending as they advance toward the center. Thus, 

 eastward of the storm center the winds blow from some easterly 

 point toward the west, and westward of the center from some 

 westerly point toward the east. Many of these storms have their 

 origin in the western part of the CTnited States and Canada, and 

 are carried eastward by the prevailing westerly winds. Others 

 originate in the southwestern states, in the Gulf of Mexico, or 

 in adjacent waters, and move northeastward. Most of these storms 

 either cross Xew York or pass so near it that their influence is 

 felt over at least a part of the state. 



AYhen a cyclonic storm approaches Xew York, either from the 

 south or west, the moisture-laden air from the Atlantic Ocean is 

 drawn inland toward the storm center, and, being cooled through 

 its ascent, gives up its moisture in the form of rain or snow. While 

 the influence of the Great Lake- as a moisture supply for Xew 

 York is appreciable, particularly along the western slope of the 

 Adirondack Mountains, it i- wholly secondary to the influence of 

 the Atlantic Ocean on the state as a whole. 



