966 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Average percentage of winds from each direction ( 10 years , 1911 to 1920 )- — Continued 
YARMOUTH, NOVA SCOTIA 
Month 
North 
North- 
east 
East 
South- 
east 
South 
South- 
west 
West 
North- 
west 
Calm 
January 
15 
12 
10 
9 
6 
10 
6 
30 
2 
February 
16 
13 
9 
8 
7 
7 
7 
29 
4 
March, 
17 
9 
7 
7 
9 
11 
10 
26 
4 
April 
13 
10 
10 
8 
9 
12 
13 
20 
5 
May 
11 
6 
6 
10 
16 
IS 
15 
16 
2 
June __ _. 
8 
3 
6 
8 
20 
20 
15 
14 
6 
July 
5 
3 
4 
6 
20 
31 
14 
8 
8 
August 
6 
2 
5 
6 
20 
23 
11 
14 
13 
September 
13 
7 
6 
7 
14 
15 
11 
15 
12 
October 
15 
8 
9 
7 
14 
18 
10 
13 
6 
November.. . 
15 
12 
10 
5 
6 
14 
11 
23 
4 
December 
16 
14 
10 
8 
5 
10 
5 
30 
2 
Average for 3 winter months .. 
16 
13 
10 
8 
6 
9 
6 
30 
Average for 3 summer months 
6 
3 
5 
7 
20 
25 
12 
12 
Average for year , 
13 
8 
8 
7 
12 
16 
11 
20 
Five-degree square, including Gulf of Maine, from pilot charts 
Month 
Percentage of winds from the most 
frequent quadrant 
Month 
Percentage of winds from the most 
frequent quadrant 
January 
North to west, 63. 
July 
February 
North to west, 73. 
West to south, 50. 
Northeast to northwest, 49. 
North to west, 58. 
North to west, 64. 
March 
North to west’ 57. 
North to west, 58. 
April 
May 
West to south; 50. 
November 
June 
West to south, 45. 
December 
North to west, 63. 
These tables may be briefly summarized as follows: 
Along the western and northern shores of the gulf the wind blows most often 
between southwest and north in winter, averaging about northwest. In summer 
southwesterly and southerly winds prevail. On the eastern side of the gulf the 
wind averages more westerly (south to northwest) in summer, northerly (between 
northwest and northeast) in winter. Over the offshore waters of the gulf, where 
the direction of the wind is not so much influenced by the diurnal warming and 
cooling of the land, the prevailing winds are between west and north (though with 
requent reversals) from November to April; between west and south from June to 
August; more variable in late spring and again in early autumn. 
In summer, by theoretic expectation, winds of this character would tend to 
produce a general drift of the surface water about 20° to 45° to the right of the 
octant, north to northeast — i. e., toward the northeast and east. Thus, the prevail- 
ing winds favor the general drift out from the western side of the gulf and eastward 
across the southern part of the basin toward Nova Scotia, which prevails at that 
season (p. 974). Striking Nova Scotia, this wind current would tend to bank up 
against the coast, raising the level of the sea slightly. Thereupon hydrostatic 
forces are brought into play, dynamically, against the wind; but any resultant 
movement of the water out from the land being in turn deflected to the right by the 
earth’s rotation, a northerly drift might be expected to result along Nova Scotia, 
and in this instance theoretic expectation agrees so well with the drifts of bottles 
actually recorded that the prevailing southwesterly winds of summer certainly 
assist the surface drift from south to north, which characterizes the eastern side 
of the gulf at that season, though as certainly not the only motive force for it. 
