Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1871-02-01
Climate OF the New NorthKeuf.

HARPERs WEEKLY, in a recent inter
esting article descriptive of the country
traversed by the route OF the Northern
Pacific Railroad, gives the following
reasonable explanation OF the remarka-
BILE mildness Of climate and fertility of
soil which characterizss the vast region
which has come to be knowna as the New
Northwest. That journal says:-
The fact of the mildness Of b climate
which prevails along the belt Of country
tributary 10 the line of the Northern
Pacific Railroad, is ~abundanty establish
ed. Nowhere between Lake Superior
and Puget Sound is the climate colder
than in Minnesota; and this great State
is not surpassed as a Wheat-prOducing
region, or in heElthfulness of atmo-
sphere. Dakota is very similar TO Min
esta and from Dakota westward the
climate steadily mobiles, until, in Ore
CON and Washington Territory, there is
almost no winter at all aside from q rainy
season. a. in California. Throughout
/ Dakota Montana, and Northern Idaho
cattle and horses range out all winter,
and in the spring are fat and strong.
I Records kept by the government officers
nj ne various military stations on the
upper waters Of the Missouri show that
the average annual temperature for a
series Of years has been warmer in Cen
trzI Montana than at Chicago or Albany.
This remarkable modification Of climate,
the existence OF which no WeI-informed
person now questions, is due to several
natural causes, chief among which are
these: First, the country lying between
the 44th and 50th parallels is lower by
seine 5000 feet than the belt lying inn
msdiately south. The highest point on
the line OF the Northern Pacific Road is
1 $500 feet lower than the corresponding
summit OF the Union and Central line.
Roth the Rocky and the Cascade ranges,
Z where they are crossed by the Northern
1 Pacific route, are broken down TO low
elevations compared with their height
400 miles southwark. h difference IN
altitude would account for II Of the
difference in climate, rs four degrees of
temperature are usually allowed for each
1000 feet OF elevation. But, second, the
warm winds from the South Pacific,
which prevail in winter, and aided by
the warm ocean currents corresponding
to our Atlantic Gulf Stream, produce
the genial climate of u Pacific coast,
pass over the low mountain ridges 10 the
north Of latitude 40, and carry their
softening effect far inland, giving to
Eastern Washington the climate OF VIZ
ginia, and to Montana the climate Of
Ohio, without its dampness and chill.
The same cause.-The depression OF the
mountain ranges toward b north-ac-
counts for the abundant rainfall in near
IL all parts Of this vast area. The south
west winds, saturated by the evaporation
OF the tropics, carry the rain-clouds east
ward over the continental divide, and
distribute their moisture over the SER
tile belt stretching from the mountains
to the lakes. Further south the noun
tains, with their greater altitude, act as
a wall against the warm, moist, west
winds; hence the colder winters and the
aridity of portions Of the regions south
of Montana and east Of the mountains.
That the climate of that new Northwest
which is now to be opened to settlement,
travel, and trade is such as to make il a
eongenisl home for the migrating mil
lions Of Central and Northern Europe,
and the crowded portions Of our own
land, there is no doubt.