192 BIRDS—PECULIARITIES OF CLIMATE. 
‘‘The lake rapidly imbibing heat at this season, becomes a safeguard against any 
subsequent vernal frost. Its influence was manifested in a satisfactory manner early in 
the present season. On the Ist of May, spring seemed to be fully established; fruit 
trees had blossomed and in some localities young fruits had formed. The morning 
was cold and the temperature declined during the day and evening. At 2 o’clock P.M., 
it was 48° Fahrenheit; at 7, 34°; and at 9, 32°. The atmosphere was calm and clear, 
indicating to an experienced observer the approach of a destructive frost, At 10 o’clock 
P.M., it had risen to 40°; a heavy cloud of haze hung about twenty degrees above the 
lake and soon overspread the whole horizon. The morning of the following day was 
warm and misty; by 12 o'clock A.M., it was clear and spring-like. Not a frait germ was - 
injured on the lake shore. A different state of things occurred throughout the west and 
south-west, where no local influences interfered. The temperature steadily declined, 
without intermission, during the day and night, down to about 26°. The day following 
was cold and blighting, and fruits were generally destroyed. 
‘‘The modes by which the lake exerts its influence on such occasions do not appear to 
be uniformly the same at different times. 
‘On the approach of a cold night, as in the instance above noticed, the warm emana- 
tions condensing may give off caloric, and obscure the atmosphere with haze, mist, or 
clouds, when no frost will occur. — 
‘“‘Under circumstances apparently similar, on the approach of a cold night, neither 
haze, mist nor clouds may form, but a stiff breeze springs up, and the stars become un- 
asually brilliant. The thermometer vacillates between 30° and 38°, rising with gusts 
of wind, and falling during the intervals of calm. Then no frosts will appear. 
‘‘Again, none of those modifying causes may intervene, but the temperature may fall 
below freezing-point, ice form on the surface of the water, and the expanded fruit, 
leaves, and blossoms congeal. Under such circumstances, the first rays of the rising 
sun, the next morning, will be arrested by a haze, which will soon thicken, and before 
noon a warm rain will probably fall. The frost will be abstracted so gradually from 
frozen vegetation as not to impair its vitality, ; 
‘These contingences have all occurred within the period of our observations. The 
year 1834 proved an exception. The general cold prevailed over the local warmth of 
the lake; freezing weather continued two or three days, and fruits were cut off, even to 
the shore of the lake. , 
‘‘¥n autumn, this great body of water begins to part with its warmth to the colder 
incumbent atmosphere, and the process continues during the winter. While its prog- — 
ress is most rapid strong westerly winds prevail ai the earth’s surface, while volumes of 
clouds, at a high elevation, may at the same time be moving rapidly in an opposite di- 
rection. 
‘‘These counter-currents have sometimes given origin to a phenomenon in the city of 
Cleveland, not well understood by all of its good citizens. The vane of the lofty spire 
of the Baptist church, standing on a high ridge of ground, may point steadily to the 
north, while that on the low cupola of the First Presbyterian church, situated on a less 
elevated plateau, may be directed to an opposite point of the compass, with a stiff 
southerly breeze at the same time. Cold north winds begin to prevail about the middle 
of October. The emanations from the lake then begin to condense and pass off to the 
south, in the form of thick clouds, without discharging, at first, much rain. About the 
20th of October the cold from the north seems to gain the ascendency ; squalls of rain, 
hail, and rounded snow appear alternately, with intervals of clear and warm weather. 
