Summer Weather

Southland Times, Issue 19324, 11 April 1904, Page 2

Summer Weather

:he seasons in the antarctic. a comparison. (By AN OFFICER OF THE DIS- . ; . CO,VEBY.) [:-y; \\ ' .. \. i,We have now seen both a summer and i winter in the same spot in these regions, and it may interest some to know vhat kind of weather and temperatures vcre experienced, at the ship during ' the ununer months. But what are our lummer months ? It hardly doe® to see i minus mean for a month one would mturally include in the summer, bo for :onvenitmco I will 'take all the months ivith the means above zero as constituting the summer, and those with means below zero, the winter. We have, therefore, November to February as onrsumtner. And what a summer in comparison to other places, even in the 'Arctic regions, as far as the temperature isreon- 1 uerned. For these months we get out actual mean summer i jtemperature of 17.84 deg. Fahrenheit. The following table gives thd monthly means for' summer, with the maximum and minimum temperatures during the month ; — Mean. Maximum. Maximum! Month. Fahr. Fahr. Fahr. Noveinfcor ■.'... 12.20 27,8 0.0 December .» 23.86 39.0 42, r January ... 24.91 89.0 9.0 February •_ 10.90 82.2 10.0 Comparing these with other places in the north and south, wo show a mean Sumr mer temperature far below any ofthectt. Tak», for instance, the station at Cape Adare, latitude 71.18deg S. The mean there for the same four months, was 25.7 deg. Fahrenheit, and the maximum temperature in January was 48*7 Fahrenheit. Now turn to the observations taken within th^ Arctic Circle. In the Nares Expedition the summer months were June, July, August and September, and the mean was 32.0deg Fohrenlieit, and the maximum SOdeg Fahrenheit in July, the latitude beinc 52.27 deg N. Graely's ' Expedition, in 1881, for the same four months in latitude 81.44 N. got a mean of 30.2 Fahrenheit, their maximum being 53 Fahrenheit in July. Kane, in his expedition in ; 1853--55, in latitudo 78.37 N. ,< got a mean summer temperature 'of 27.4 Fahrenheit. So it can easily be seen that our sum* mer moans are about the lowest on record. But, although our actual temperature was not ftiffh, no one' can say that they could not feel' the heat of the sun's rays'. Everyone showed it in their faces and hands returning from sledging. The rapidity with which the snow, which! bad banked up round the ship during, the winter disappeared, and the pond on tbq starboard side of the ship increased in size showedr that the actual heat from the sun was very great, pur black bulb thermometer showed a maximum: of 154 Fahrcriheit^ This figure is often, reached and exceeded in England, and in India 214 Fahrenheit has been recorded. Taking the weather during, the stammer, on the -whole, we had clear weather, steadier winds, generally from the north,- and none of those blizzards which «> marked our winter months. No wi was this an exceptionally cold summer, and did we have fewer of the necessary gales to break the ice up ? ' It ia indeed hard to say. One is often asked the question as to whether or not thia years* temperatures arc lower than last years'. It is certainly the case so far., but should be expected, as ; last year we had the open water /and then thin ice, whilst now w© have thfe Ice of a year old surrounding us. The thermometer off Capo Armitnge has already been down to minus 50 Fahrenheit on the Bth of this month, so those "who expect a lower minimum temperature than last year may have theij? hopes realised. The following tables give the mean temperatures of the named months, with their corresponding temperature of last year, together with the maximum and minimum : — 1902.

Month. Mean. Maximum. Minimum. Fahr, faht. Fahr. February i. 15.85 39.2. 0.0 March _ 7.2,8 27.8 6.8 April. ;... .;. 50 19.8 18.* ' 1908. February ... 10.90 .32.2 10.0 April _ 7-50 18,3