The evening world., 1911-12-23
THIS C.TY'S

~ EATHER is like suicide in that it is subject to n o apparent
w rule except the law of averages. Despite the freakishness Of
these December days we know about how many rainy days
there will be between now and a year hence. There will be iai such
days, that is, days o n which rain or snow TO the amount OF one one
bundrcdth of an inch will fall. There will be about sixty days more SO
obscurcd as to he ranked Is cloudy. In the couSe Of the year q
little less than four feet Of water A4.6 inches) in the form Of rain
or snow will fall upon Manhattan Island.
The remarkable thing about this city is the clearness Of is win
ter sunshine and the brightness of it's winter skies. Winter and sum
msr it lies in a bath OF sunshine that to British observers is quite as
noteworthy as its skyscraper architecture. Only two great cities are
better off-Ssn Francisco with 1850 sunny hours in a year and Bos-
ton with 2,763. New York has 2,729 such hours, or % per cent. more
than st. Louis. All the interior cities Of the State have from four
to thirteen per cent. more cloudy weather than the metropolis. The
olasness Of its skies in winter is due to the fact that then the pre-
weQing winds are from the northwest instead Of the southwest, and
thsss carry the ocean vapors away from instead Of toward the land.
Winter winds here ire higher than summer winds because the
prevailing wind, from the northwest, is really two winds reinforcing
sch other. 1t 10 the planetary wind, the wind caused by tho earths
FeNton, driven home by the monsoon, or wind blowing from the land
oat over the warmer sea. In summer the planetary wind from the
.~ssathwvst 10 partially counterscted by the wind that blows inland
fsum the cooler ss. This wind, however, is not strong enough to
na6Hy the former or give it a prevailing castcrly direction. in the
interior it unites with the west wind and returns to us az the moist
southehy wind, source Of summers abundant rainfall, source Of the
humidity then 90 noticeable.
New York winters are made up Of a fairly regular alienation Of
maritime and continental conditions. Maritime conditions imply
moist and fairly warm weather accompanied by snow or rain. Con.
tinsntAl conditions imply dry and cold weather accompanied by tho
keen nor'wsstsr. II it 10 sunny and cold to-day it is q good predc-
tbn that four or five days hence it will DO cloudy and much warmer.
And il it 10 cloudy and warm to-day it will Be sunny and cold four
or Eve days hence. Thn variability il the essence Of q New York
winter. Low pressure sres originating in the interior pss east
ward over ne Great Lakes and st. Lawrence Valley At ne rate Of
roo miles . day, drswing in toward tAsm the cir Of this coast and
FIELDING rain or ansv IN Nw Knsimd. These arc followed . few
days later BY high pressure areas moving along the ssms track and
ssnding forth dry cold winds Inst snvslop the coast in the atmos.
phsrs d " intsror.
In summer Tie monsoon 10 TIE most important fsature affecting
ths Temperature. It takss tho form Of . night bresse from the land
outward, . shenant interval lasting from sunrise until about 10
odssk in The morning and then . day bresse blowing inward until
ss.st end registering ten or fifteen miles an hour. 1hs breeze
M b felt sbout tn miles inland. ~
ne German sdsntist Buckn~ 10 wdl advised in hs theory
A~sAanatng VI and dry periods. the whole world, including New
Yea OH, h h for generally wettsr summers and colder winters until
sbss 1870, whsn thss will come 0vsntssn ysan Of rather warmer
vsAhs Win ts rainfall scied q about 20 per cent.