17 
Table 2 
Total Rainfall (in Inches ) During June, July, and August, 1917-1926 
— 
Chipewyan 
Vermilion 
Fort Smith 
Hay River 
Resolution 
1917 
4-07 
4-95 
6-31 
3*69 
3*52 
1918 
5-44 
5*24 
3*92 
4*24 
1*63 
1919 
6-32 
10*26 
6*88 
5*39 
5*92 
1920.,. ......... 
2-60 
5*86 
1 
5*00 
5*25 
1921 
5-14 
8*19 
10*52 
9*12 
4*79 
1922. ......... 
5-19 
6*44 
5*07 
6*73 
4*82 
1923 . 
1-91 
5*99 
5*22 
2*92 
0*80 
1924 
5-09 
3*32 
3*66 
3*45 
5*54 
1925. 
2-11 
6*87 
3*55 
3*56 
4*10 
1926. .... 
1 
5*64 
3*29 
4-98 
4*77 
Average. ....... 
4-21 
6*27 
5*36 
4*90 
4*11 
1 Incomplete records. 
Table 3 
Total Snowfall (in Inches ) During Each Year, 1917-1926 
— 
Chipewyan 
Vermilion 
Fort Smith 
Hay River 
Resolution 
1917 
82*4 
36*0 
22*3 
40*5 
38*0 
1918. . 
105*9 
54*7 
60*2 
50*1 
57*0 
1919 
32*3 
27*6 
50*2 
37 6 
38*7 
1920 
25*0 
23*9 
34*6 
41*6 
49-8 
1921 
33*5 
31*1 
24*3 
47*3 
40*7 
1922. . 
85*5 
33*9 
31*3 
30*6 
38*8 
1923.. 
24-5 
24*4 
40*0 
57*8 
38*8 
1924. . . 
52*0 
42*6 
31*5 
74*0 
54*0 
1925 
46*5 
39*3 
37*0 
42*3 
72*0 
1926. 
45*3 
29*3 
41*9 
32*0 
78*1 
Average . ... . . ....... 
53*29 
34*28 
37*33 
45*38 
50*59 
to its position between two great lake basins. In its winter maxima it 
shows a close relationship with lake shore conditions. The highest tempera- 
tures ever recorded were at Vermilion in 1912, when the thermometer 
reached 101 degrees. Ninety degrees is not an uncommon temperature 
throughout the region. The rainfall tables indicate greater precipitation 
in the summer months inland than on the lakes, whereas the snowfall 
during the rest of the year is greater on the lakes than inland. July and 
August are the only two months of the year in which snow has never been 
recorded. 
The permanent frozen condition of the soil at comparatively shallow 
depths and the short season during which the surface is thawed influence 
the development and distribution of the vegetation by limiting root develop- 
ment, affecting the position of the water table and the nature of the drain- 
age, slowing down the process of humus development, and by allowing only 
a short period of the year when physiographic changes can take place. Open 
prairies were found frozen at a depth of 37 inches on June 26, and in the 
early part of August frost was found at about 5 feet on the cleared bank 
