The Dickinson press., 1899-05-13
ABOUT OUR WEATHER.
Great Ignorance Of This Subject Dis.
played by People and Press
of the East.
CLIMATE Is M1sREPREsENTER
Winters are no More Severe ana
Cause Less Suffering Than
Those Of the East.

Scarcely anything connected with the
State Of North Dakota is the subject Of
greater misconception than it's climate.
When talks of a removal to Min.
nesota. Michigan or Wisconsin, the eli.
mate of those prosperous and old-set.
tied states is not thought to offer an
unsurmountablc objection; but the
very moment North Dakota Is men,
tio1.ed, whose boundaries are practiS
ally within the same ATTITUDES as the
states named, we are told OF long,
dreary winters, terrible billiards. and
disastrous cyclones. 1t Is difficult to
understand in what manner the eli.
mate Of this state came to be SO mis-.
represented to our Eastern neighbors;
certainly there never existed greatep
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 e
that North Dakota Is in the same latt.
tude as 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
n 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 one 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 II to 20 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 mean temperature of 40 to 80 de-
grees mean annual temperature, pass
es through the wheat countries of Rus
sia, Austria and France, and, in the
United States, run westward through
Harrisburg. Cleveland and Chicago,
turns nOrthward to st. Paul and pass
es westward north of the northern
boundary Of North Dakota and Mon
tana. The sudden trend of the i%sOthcr.
NAL line northward. following the
course of the Missouri river. marks its
meeting with the warm Japan cu1-
rents, known as "CllinOok Winds"
which flow from the tropical waters
of the Indian ocean, and are finally
distributed over the States of WASH
ington. Montana and North Dakota,
scnsibly tempering the climate of the
entire Northwest.
The atmosphere is dry and devoid Of
any humidity during the winter
months, and. therefore, it evc pcne-
trates and chills as does the damp at
mOspllere Of the Atlantic states. 1t is
Il fact, borne out by the assertions Of
all the residents of the state. mailing,
as they do, from all sections Of tho
United States, that the winters Of
North Dakota are no more eve and
cause less suffering and Inconvenience
than the winters Of New England or
Western States. The thermometer Oc-
c%asioEally registers a very low temper
allure, and probably this is the cause
Of so much incXcusable misconccption
in regard to our climate; but the read
er is assured that a temperature Of 10
degrees below zero, an exceptionally
cold day Of the winter. has no more
terrOrs for n North DakOtan than has
the "norther" of Texas. or the daily
nov storms of New England for the
residents Of those attitudes .
The autumn is a delightful season,
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 O
very noticeable feature Of North Da'
kota weather. There is none of that
intermittent warfare between Boreas
and the sun, resulting in a prolonged
visitation of rain and wind, alternate
freezing and thawing, so common In
the Eastern states, and dreaded al
ways as the most disagreeable season
of the year.
The winter breaks in March, usually
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
. in April, and are seldom interrupted
i. by the return Of frost or snow.
North Dakota comprises about 70,00t
square miles of prairie land, usually
we'll watered by living streams and in
land lakes, and including a portion Of
the greatest artcsian water basin in the
world. The Red River Valley, on the
North Dakota side. is thirty to fifty
niles wide, remarkably level and of un'
exampled fertility, and is from 800 t.
800 feet above the level Of the sea
The remainder Of the state, east Of the
!, Missouri river is more un%dulating ant
elevated, in places reaching a height O
1,SOO feet, and, likewise, %remarkabl.
fertile, and, in the northwestern por