The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1910-07-08
fine CLIMATE
OF PENINSULA
Florida in Summer More Pleasant
Than States in the North
GOVERNMENTS
Sunstrokes Unknown Damage to Life
and Property Far Less Than Elsewhere
Famed by Ocean Br, ezes

Under the caption of "The Summer
Climate of the Florida Peninsula" the
Florida Review publishes the following
article written by r. Friedrich Davis,
assistant director ar the Jacksonville
station of the United States weather
bureau, and as the data is from official
observations and records this article
will no doubt prove Of especial value to
many persons who have bought lands
in Florida and who have not yet had
the pleasure of spending summer IN
the Land of Flowers.
"When the north shivers in the grasp
of the blizzard, and the ground there is
covered with a mantle Of snow, then
the human tide turns toward the balmy
atmosphere and the blue skies of Flori.
da. With the approach of spring time
our friends from the north return to
their homes, carrying with them asso-
Citations and recolections that often
find place in print. Thus, year after
year, books and magazine articles are
written, in which the charms of our
climate play an important role. So the
fame of Florida's winter climate ex-
tends throughout the length and breadth
of our great country; in song and story
it has been given to all the world. But
the impression prevailing among our
friends in the north seems to be that
summers are composed of destructive
thunder storms, and intolerable heat;
because our winters are mild, they in
fer the summers are insufferably hot.
"The same causes that modify the
winter cold contribute to tempering the
heat Of summer. Like the thumb of
giant hand, the Florida peninsula ex-
tends far out into the sea. and from
that fact results climate that is al
most oceanic it its equability. The
vast water areas on each side ensure
free circulation of the air and pleasant
breeze across the State almost inces-
sanity. The atmosphere does not stag
nate here. Let us describe character
istic mid summer day and night. The
sun rises in cloudless sky. AS he
mounts higher in the heavens, the tenn
'perature Of the air likewise begins to
rise. About s or 9 o'clock, the sky be-
comes partly overcast with cumnlus
clouds, while the wind freshens little.
BY noon the temperature has climbed
well into the COS but the sky is nearly
overcast with clouds which shield the
sun from the direct rays of the sun.
In the west the clouds begin to bank
and by early afternoon the first mutter-
ings of thunder are heard. Gradually
the sky grows dark as the storm APP
proaches; then the squall comes on and
the temperature falls 10 to 20 degrees
in as many minutes During the next
few minutes the lightning flashes and
the thunder rolls while the rain falls in
torrents; all the elements are in an up
roar. In less than half an hour the
storm passes on to the eastward; the
sun peeps out from a clearing sky and
maps its rainbow upon the back of the
recedng storm. The air has peculiar
freshness and exhiaration about it
now, which all nature seems to imbibe.
The sun declines in clear west, but
the energy of the sunbeams is expend-
ed in the evaporation of the surface
moisture, and not as sensible heat;
therefore the temperature Of the air
continues relatively low. Night comes
on. The stars shine from cloudless
sky, and fresh breeze springs up to
add further comfort to the glorious
night The clear sky permits an. un-
hampered radiation of heat from the
ground; so that the night advances, there
comes chill in the air that causes us
to draw up the cover to keep us comfort
ably warm. Finally morning dawns,
to begins the sequence of the preceding
day.
1t must not be inferred that every
day in summer has its thunder storms
vet spell of weather of more than a
! few days without thunder shower is
rare indeed. On those days that thun-
der showers do not come, the wind or
dinarily increases through the forenoon
to fresh little gale by 2 or O'Clock i'll
the afternoon; thereafter, decreasing
gradually to a gentle, pleasant breeze
at night.
"These thunder storms are blessing
and not scourge. Their rains water
the ground and keeps vegetation from
becoming parched while their influence
lends helping hand in making our sum-
mer climate not only bearable, but pleas
ant as WELL 1t is a mistake to infer
that our thunder storms are more viol'
and destructive than those in
portions of the country. The fre now
statistics were taken at rar
the United States census re- aNor'te
Deaths due to lightninged HAVANA
i Florida, a; Californiaoff,e industry.
LIMOS, GA, iuu,a Dur Motto