Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-07-23
CLIMATE OF CUBA AND MANILA.

| There has just been issued by the Wea-
Their Bureau at Washington pamphlet
which summarizes most Of the available
precise meteorological information regard
| ing Cuba. The publication also contains
| a note regarding the weather at Manila.
While systematic meteorological obser-
vations seem to have been begun at Ha-
bana about 1850. the first regularly pub
| lished observations, are those of Belen
| College, Habana, instituted in 1859, and
which have been continued to the present
| time in annual volumes. For other Cuban
| localities, facts are very meagre, frag-
mentary observations only having been
| made at Ubajay (2i2 feet above the sea-.
at Matanzas, the San Fernando mines,
Santiago de Cuba, and Trinidad de Cuba.
The extreme length Of the island is about
$50 miles, with an average width Of one
tenth that amount. The country is gently
pndulating. not unlike England, though
its highest mountain, Pico de Tarquino,
rises 1850 feet, and lesser ridge practi-
cally divides the island into two water
sheds whose rivers flow north and south
Variations in temperature and rainfall
are caused largely by differences In alti-
tude, and position with reference to the
prevailing winds, which blow for the
most part from the east, the northeast
trades" being especially regular and uni
form.
The waymest month is July. At San
tiago the temperature is higher than on
the northern and western coasts. In Ha-
bQna sudden changes are frequent, one
record showing in three hours drop from
eighty-nne degrees to seventy-four de-
grees. The warmest hours are between
noon and o'clock. Absolute humidity
is very great. while the average rainfall
is about fifty-two inches for the year. The
rainy season extends, as in other tropical
countries, from May to October, and the
greatest rainfall occurs in the months OF
October and June. About one day out of
three in the summer is rainy at Habana,
showing heavy downpours Of short dura-
ton, but with a lmost no clouds except du-
ring the showers. The wind velocity is
about eight and one-half miles hourly in
winter, six and one-half in summer, and
somewhat more on the northern than on
the southern coast Little damage is said TO
result from the frequent thunder-storms.
while tropical hurricanes, usually occur
ring once or twice in a summer, are most
liable in August, September, and October
At Manila the average temperature Is so
degrees F.; April. May, and June are the
hottest months, May showing 81 degrees
as an average, and sometimes rising TO
100 degrees. September, the most humid
month shows 50 per cent Of moisture;
April, the driest of all, but 20 per cent. |
The rainy season. as in Cuba, extends |
from June to October. the largest aver |
age fall occurring in September. Curious |
variations in amount are recorded-one |
year about 121 inches, another but 35 inch |
es An interesting comparison is made |
between the average summer temperature |
of Habana and Washington, showing 81 |
degrees for the former and but 70 degrees |
for the latter, while the average amount |
Of rainfall in the Cuban city Is inches |
more than that at our capital.