Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1899-05-12
OUR WEATHER.
Groat Ignorance of This Subject Dis
played by People and Press
Of the East
CLIMATE IS M1sREPREsENTER
Winters are no More Severe and
Cause Less Suffering Than
Those of the East.

Cause Less Suffering Than
Those Of the Cast.
Scarcely anything connected with the
State Of North Dakota is the subject Of
greater misconccption than it's climate.
When one talks Of a removal to Min.
nesota. Michigan or Wisconsin, the clie
mate of those prosperous and Old-set.
tied states is not thought to offer an
unsurmountable objection; but the
very nm North Dakota is me4s
tiol.ed, whose boundaries are practl%
ally within the same ATTITUDES as the
states named, we are told OF lOnA
dreary winters, terrible billiards. and
disastrous cyclones. 1t Is difficult to
understand in what manner the cl1s
mate Of this state came to be so mis-.
represented to our Eastern %neighborsj
certainly there never existed greate1
ignorance than is sometimes displayed
by the remarks Of people and the press
Of the East on the weather Of North
Dakota. However, each year people
are hearing more and more about the
state; they are consulting the maps
and weather reports, and the truth 10
gradually becoming known. They see
that North Dakota Ia in the same latt.
tude rs many of the most prosperous
and well-to-do states Of the Union; that
many Of her towns are no farther north
than the villages in Minnesota, Wis.
consin and Michigan, and that every
one Of her cities show by their growth
construction and beauty that they are
inhabited by the more enterprising cit.
liens Of her sister states, who have
broken loose from their former envi.
ronments. Scientific investigation has
demonstrated the fact that the lati.
tude is not the n factor that regu-
lates the severity Of the winter
months. A number of cities located in
the same latitude have a difference in
their mean temperature for January Of
from IL to IS degrees, all brought
about by the tempcTing influences Of
streams of equatorial warmth which
are distributed through the ocean cur
rents. Great Britain would scarcely
be habitable were it not for the prox-
unity Of these warm ocean currents.
The isothermal line IAN imaginary line
passing through points having the
same NEAR temperature Of 40 to so de-
grees mean nnual temperature, pass
eS through the wheat countries OF Rus
STA, Austria and France, and. in the
United States, runs westward through
Harrisburg, Cleveland and Chicago,
turns northwaru to st. Paul and pass
es westward north of the northern
boundary Of North Dakota and Mon
tana. The sudden trend of the i%sotller-
NAL line northward. following the
course of the Missouri river. marks it's
meeting with the warm Japan cu1-
rents, known as "Chinook Winds"
which flow from the tropical waters
of the Indian ocean, and are finally
distributed owe the States of WASH
irgton. Montana and North Dakota,
sensibly tempering the climate of the
entire Northwest.
The atmosphere is dry and devoid Of
any humidity during the winter
months. and. therefore, it never pene-
trates and chills as does the damp at
n%osphere Of the Atlantic states. 1t is
Il fact, borne out by the assertions of
all the residents of the state. hailins,
as they do, from all sections OF the
United States, that the winters Of
North Dakota are no more severe and
cause less suffering and Inconvenience
than the winters of New England or
Western States. The thermometer oc-
casiorully registers a very low temper
allure, and probably this is the cause
of so much ineXcusable misconccption
in regard to our climate: but the read
err is assured that a temperature of 40
degrees below zero, an exceptionally
cold day Of the winter. has no more
tcrrors for a North Dakotan than has
the "norther" of Texas, or the daily
snow storms Of New England for the
residents Of those attitudes .
The autumn is a delightful season,
Q and is generally prolonged far into De.
cember; set cold weather rarely visit
: ing US until after the holidays. The
= sudden breaking up Of the winter Is 8
very noticeable feature Of North Da'
D kota weather. There is none Of that
9 intermittent warfare between Boreas
Z and the sun, resulting in a prolonged
= visitation Of rain and wind, alternate
!. freezing and thawing, so common II
{ the Eastern states, and dreaded al
!, ways as the most diSagreeable season
u Of the year.
Q The winter breaks in March, usually
3 and is followed Immediately by the
/. warm, sunny days Of summer. Seed
. ing and farm operations generally be
gin in the latter part Of March, or early
r in April, and are seldom interrupted
/. by the return Of frost or
!. North Dakota comprises about 7O,00<
IL square miles Of prairie land, usually
n we'll watered by living streams and in
land lakes, and including a portion Of
= the greatest artesian water basin in tn
- world. The Red River Valley, on tn,
North Dakota side. is thirty to fit!
h miles wide, remarkably level and Of un
= eXampled fertility, and is from 500 t.
~ 900 feet above the level Of the sea
The remainder Of the state, east of tn
q Missouri river is more undulating an,
q elevated, in places reaching a height O
"a 1,S0O feet, and, likewise, remarkabl,
fertile, and, in the northwestern por
a ton, admirably adapted to stock-rais
,s ing. The "West Missouri country
% rolling, a splendid grazing and stock
!, raising region, and at the same time
!. rich and productive and we'll suited t
diversified farming.