4 
METEOROLOGY OF 1897. 
sensible perspiration as. a rule, and less oppression than 
accompany the same temperatures in a more moist region. 
Greater range of temperature. 
A large percentage of sunshine, of great intensity, 
which, as well as the great range, is a consequence of the 
great dryness and rarity of the air. 
One of the marked features is the presence of warm 
westerly winds known as Chinooks, a type present in moun- 
tainous countries under various names. While cold waves 
are not absent, the intensity is less than in the Mississippi 
Valley states. The conditions which result in blizzards of 
great intensity in the states, cause westerly winds with us, 
and some of the most pleasant weather of winter. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE STATIONS. 
§5. The Agricultural Experiment Station, at Fort Col- 
lins, is located at the base of the Rocky mountains about 
four miles from the foot hills, beyond which the mountains 
rise to the summit of the range, fifty miles westward. It is 
located about one mile south of the Cache a la Poudre river, 
and about forty feet higher, on the bench lands which are 
supplied wMth water for irrigation from this same stream. 
The college is in the midst of an irrigated area, which 
extends about three miles farther west, while both east 
and south there is no unirrigated land for a number 
of miles. I'he nearness of the mountains affects the 
climate in the amount and character of tlie clouds, in the 
temperature, in the precipitation, and in the direction and 
character of the winds. 
The elevation of the office baroimTer, which is ten feet 
above the ground, is 4,992 feet as found by connecting with 
the levels of the U. P. D. & G. R. R. Fhe latitude of the 
college is 40° 34'; its longitude, 105° 6' west of Greenwich. 
§6. The station at Cheyenne Wells which has been 
termed, perhaps unfortunately, the Rain Belt station, is on 
the Great plains, on the Kansas Pacific Railway (Union 
Pacific), near the eastern border of the state. It is a point 
where wells were sunk to a great depth to procure water, 
ddie elevation above the sea level is 4,278* feet. Its lati- 
tude 38° 50', and longitude 102° 20'. The station is nearly 
one-third of the distance between the Arkansas river on the 
* Preliminary unpublished results of the trans conn, ental levels of the 
U. S. Coast Survey. 
