Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1867-07-19
Editorial notes on st. CroiX.
No. XVII.
MErEoRoLoGY AND CLIMATE.
Continued.

Continued.
The atmosphere Of St. Croix always con-
tains moisture almost or quite to the point Of
complete saturation. This is a natural conse-
quence of the steady high temperature of the
air. and the situation of the island, in the open
sea. A state Of complete saturGtioH being re-
presented by 10, the actual condition varies
from to TO- A very little lowering ofthe tenn
persture, therefore, must cause some OF the
moisture held in solution by the air to fall as
rain. or to be deposited as dew. Snow or frost
is Of course altogether out ofsthe question there
For considerable portion Of the year-prO-
badly from conflicting currents Of air at high
attitudes showers of rain occur very frequent
~, and with a suddenness that is most surpris-
ing to stranger The SKY may be perfectly
clear all around, with nothing to indicate ap-
preaching rain, when on sudden psttering
of lain drops is perceived. On looking up q
little haze appears in the sky, rapidly becoming
dense cloud from which the rain in few
minutes pours down in torrents. Very soon all
will be over, the sky will again be clear, the
heat the same, and the sir apparently as dry as
before. Rarely do these showers have any large
extent. Small as the Island is, | doubt whether
once during the seven months Of my residence
there the rain was falling at the same time over
the whole Of it, nor did for once see what we
here call " regular rainy day Thunder and
lightning are uncommon, yet once-on the 18th
of February lsst-there was q very violent
thunderstorm with surprising fall Of rain over
considerable part Of the island. There fell
within two hours, from three and half inches
to nearly six inches Of water on level. The
record at Msj. Lang's observatory gave this last
mentioned result. Maj. Lang said he had never
witnessed a severer thunderstorm, or greater
fall Of water in so short time Such e1trsor-
binary falls Of rain of course do some damage to
crops and roads but the distance from the hill
sides to the sea il 60 short that the damage is
slight compared with what would happen il the
streams were swollen by such a rain over large
expanse Of territory.
The average amount Of rain which falls in
St. Croix is considerably below what is due to
that latitude from the calculated results Of
physical geography relating to the distribution
Of heat and moisture on the esrth's surface,
and very much below the amount which falls on
some Of the Windward Islands, where there are
| high mountains. Sometimes too, for months to-
gether no rain falls, and the crops suffer severe
ly, while the grass Is SO dried up that it is with
great difficulty that the stock find sustenanee
let, notwithstanding the drOuth, there is moist
ure enough in the air and earth to preserve lif'
in the roots, and plentiful rain causes every
thing to start forth green and fresh in a day o.
two.
From the frequency and local distribution O
the showers, and the rapid transition from rain
TO bright sunshine. Of which have spoken
comes it that rainbows are remarkably frequently
there, very complete in form, AMI Of a splenior
in color inconeeiyable to one who has never seer
the Ike
A climate such as that Of ST. Croix naturally
induces modes Of life and business very different
from what We here are familiar with. They AIT
affected. also, BY the political andsocial relations
Of the Island, past and present. OF some O.
these more noticeable differences I shall write il
my next.