The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1952-01-11
GULF STREAM
TEMPERS OUTER
BANKS CLIMATE
That Is Why Citrus Fruit
Thrives in Soil of Cape
Hatteras
By AYCoCK BROWN

L y L.
the temperature here on Caps
Hatteras was in the low eighties
A trio of local girls suffered no i'll
effects from a trip to Cape Point
where they had gone to pose fol
news pictures They were wearing
bathing suits and the weather was
summer-like. There is reason fol
this mild climate, which on an av.
erage is 10 degrees warmer thar
at Manteo, the county seat, &C
miles northward.
1t is story built up around a
statement made by Lieutenant
Matthew F. Maury, famed 10th
Century oceanographer who wrote:
"There is a river in the ocean
In the severest droughts it never
fails, and in the mighties floods it
never overf1ows. Its banks and its
bottoms are of cold water, while
its current is of warm. The Gulf of
Mexico is its fountain, and its
mouth is in the Arctic Sea. 1t is
the Gulf Stream. There is in the
world no other such majestic flow
of waters. Its current is more rap
id than the Mississippi or the Anna
zon, and its volume more than a
thousand times greater"
Prevailing winds blowing from
the Gulf Stream after it has cross
ed the ocean is what keeps the
northwest coast of Europe from
being an ice pack today. Prevail
ing winds, mostly from the sea-
ward, blowing across the warm
waters fthis great and warm
rive of blue is what tempers the
winter climate of Cape Hatteras
which juts out into the ocean to
within 10 miles of the Gulf
Streams inner edge.
There is no question about this.
The prevailing winter winds of
Cape Hatteras are from the north
east off Diamond Shoals after il
has flowed in a general northerly
course for 800 or so miles from the
Straits of Florida.
Over long period the annual
mean temperature of nearby Hat
teras village where the U. S. Wea-
Their Station is located has been in
the low COS. The highest tempera-
ture ever officially recorded at
Hatteras was SO degrees and the
lowest was 8 above zero, several
degrees higher than winter lows
at Manteo and even Beaufort. Dur
ing 81 year period, the annual
mean maximum temperature at
Hatteras was 67.4 degrees as COM
pared to a mean minimum of Sc. 4
during the same time.
1t is this even and non-extreme
temperatures which give the Cape
Hatteras region it's marvellous Gulf
Stream climate, so mild that semi
tropical vegetation grows here in
profusion.
Citrus fruit trees thrive out of
doors here in the Gulf Stream eli
mate of Cape Hatteras. Oranges
and grape fruit have grown here
on scattered trees for many years.
Several months ago in cooperation
with the State Department of Coil
servation and Development more
than 100 additional citrus fruit
trees were set out in the yards Of
Cape Hatteras residents. The new
trees are doing fine, and some even
bore fruit this winter.
Palmetto, cactus, bear grass and
yucca, each adding a tropical-like
appearance to the area grow in
profusion on lower Hatteras Is
land. These tropical plants are
said to have washed ashore here
from the Gulf Stream which
brought them from Florida In
years gone by.
The Gulf Streams nearness to
Cape Hatteras results in thrilling
ly big catches of big game fish by
anglers. Blue Marlin, largest #
game fishes along the Atlantic
coast have been caught many
times with rod and reel off Halter
as and other warm water varieties
are also taken.
The great stream of blue warm
water comes closer to the Ameri-
can coast at Cape Hatteras than
anywhere else north of southern
Florida. Here its inner edge is on.
ly 10 miles from the Point of the
Cape. The axis of the Stream
where its velocity is greatest, is
35 miles offshore.
In comparison, the Gulf Stream
is about 20 miles off Cape Lookout
and 80 miles off Cape Fear. The
maximum velocity axis of tht
Stream az those two noints RANCE,