OCTOBER, 1906. MONTHLY WEATHER RJIVIEW. 461
the sea breeze along this coast is very much less than the 38
per cent given by Davis for the New England coast; but this
is largely because in the present investigation Kaiser has used
only the days that show a land wind early in the morning and
late in the evening, with a sea breeze in the immediate after-
noon. These are, therefore, days with both sea and land wind,
whereas navis has considered principally the occurrence of the
sea breeze. The geographic distribution of the sea breeze in
this region differs in some respects from that found by students
in other localities. When we chart the sea breezes observed
at all of Kaiser's stations, we find that the bay in which Pillau
is located experiences its sea lreeze much later than the rest
of the coast, and the same is true to a less estent of the bays
represented by Swinemunde and Labagienen. At Neufahr-
wasser the sea breeze begins two hours later than at the two
other stations, owing to its being protected by a cape jutting
out to the northward.
With regard to the veering and backing of the wind there
is considerable irregularity. The veering with the sun occurs
only occasionally on this coast. There are four ways in which
the wind may change: (1) continuous turning toward the
right; (2) turning toward the right, followed by a backward
motion toward the left; (3) continuous turning toward the left
(backing), and (4) turning toward the left, followed by a
retrogression or turning back toward the right. An esami-
nation of all the changes of the mind a t the five Baltic stations
shows that the third method almost never occurs, but the
other three methods occur in about equal proportions. The
rate at which the wind changes direction has been computed
by Doctor Kaiser as an hourly rate, and varies between 0" ancl
28" per hour for changes toward the right, and from 0" to 47"
per hour for changes toward the left. The change of direction
when the sea breeze sets in is comparatively large, but the
hourly change when it has attained its maximum strength is
small.
The difference of pressure at sea level between two stations
when the sea breeze is blowing is quite appreciable, amounting
to fully half a millimeter of the mercurial barometer in the
gradient between Swinemunde and the lightship, a hundred
kilometers or sixty miles distant to the north, but becoming
zero a t the time when the Iand breeze or sea breeze dies
away. We believe that this is the first time that these baro-
metric gradients have been determined; we have often called
attention to the fact that the air is so mobile that direct pres-
sure gradients which are inappreciable to ordinary meteoro-
logical observations will sufice to make a strong wind, ancl
that the gradients ordinarily shown on the weather maps, which
are largely perpendicular to the direction of the wind, are the
result of the centrifugal force of the wind on the rotating
earth. Such slight gradients as those that drive the air thru a
pneumatic tube are ordinarily neglected in meteorology, but we
see them exemplified in the present case, where the gradient
of a half millimeter per hundred kilometers produces a land
breeze, or a sea breeze, of six meters per second. The differ-
ence of temperature of the air over the land and the sea for
two stations nearly corresponding to those just mentioned
was 5.7" C. a t its maximum, and as this occurs at the time
when the difference of pressure is the greatest and the sea
breeze is the strongest Doctor Kaiser considers it to be the
cause of these latter.
With regard to the distance to which the sea breeze extends
landward or seaward, or the boundary between the region of
land breeze and sea breeze, the author makes use of obaerva-
tions on board numerous ships. He finds that in general it
is certain that on the German Baltic the sea breeze begins
between four and five nautical miles from the coast, and that in
its turn the land wind stretches even farther seaward; on the
most favorable days the land wind may stretch eight nautical
61-2
miles seaward. These figures relate to clear, cloudless sky.
It seems impossible now to determine how far the sea breeze
extends inward over the land, since the interior stations have
no continuous records; h i t we may assume that the sea breeze
penetrates comparatively far inland on account of the flatness
of the country, and it may he as far as twenty or thirty kilo-
meters, judging by coiiiparisou with the conditions on the
New England coast.--. A.
MONTHLY REVIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF CLIMA-
By C. FITZHUI~I TALMIN, IT. S. Weather Bureau.
METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS IN ICELAND.
TOLOGY THRUOUT THE WORLD.
The accompanying chart, fig. 1, shows the distribution of
the meteorological stations now in operation in Iceland. For
the revision of this chart to October, 1906, the writer is in-
debted to the courtesy of Mr. L. V. S. Willaume-Jantzen, Sub-
director of the Danish Meteorological Institute.
(B Gilsbakki Berufiord
Storanup Havnefjord (B
~ ~~~~
FIG. 1.-Meteorological stations in Iceland.
0 Temperature and pressure. Many stations also observe wind, atmosphr~ic liuiiiiilit y, and precipita-
tion. Italics denote ststions for which noriiials of any element have
been published. (See test.)
The results of observations at the stations in Iceland are
published annually in the second part of the Meteorologisk
Aarbog of the Danish Meteorological Institute.
The stations whose names are italicized are those for which
normals, of one element or more, have been published. The
following are the principal collections of normals for Iceland:
Denmark. Danske meteorologiske Institut. Rleteorolo-
giske Middeltal og Ertremer for Fkeroerne, Island og Gron-
land. (Appendix til clet danske meteorologiske Instituts Aar-
bog 1895, I1 Del.).
TVillauiueJantzen, V. Climat du littoral islandais. (Estr.
CongrGs iiiaritime international de Copenhague, 1902.)
For Stykkisholm the best normals are those of J. Ham.
See his important studies of the meteorology of Stykkisholm
in Sitzungsberichte der mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlichen
Iilasse der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna,
113 Bd., Abt. IIa, 190-1, pp. 183-269, and Meteorologische
Zeitschrift, Jahrg. 22, 1905, pp. 354-357.
Normals for Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, from a series
of observations made 1823-1837, appear in the Zeitschrift der
osterreichischen Gesellschaft fiir Meteorologie, Bd. 6, 1871,
p. 15. Normals from a later series appear in Buchan's '(Report
on Atmospheric Circulation ". Temperature normals for the following stations not shown
on the accompanying chart are also given in Buchan's "Report
Elements observed: @ Temperature.
Kjobenhavn, 1899.
462
36.0;
45.55
51.95 56.2s 22.66
MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW.
Nairobi .............. 5
EldnruaRarine.. ...... 2
hlumias ............... 5
Gisumu ............... 2
Fort Hall ............. 4
OOTOBER, 1906
____
1S99.
~__
14.27 12.04 17.47 20.48
8.55
1.26 24.27 8.33
10.92 11.21
7.89 19.03
156.02
on Atmospheric Ciroulation ”: Flatey, Siglufjore, Skager-
strand.
CLIMATE OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA.
A recent British Colonial Report (Annual, No. 175) contains
the following sketch of the climate of the British East Africa
Protectorate:
Climatically, British East Africa, which extends approximately from
50 south to 40 north latitude, may be divided into three zones:
1. !The coat.-The coast strip, including the valleys of the three prin-
cipal rivers, the Sabaki, the Tana, and the Juba. This is essentially
tropical. The atmosphere is always charged with a considerable amount
of moisture, but the temperature is equable and never very high. From
June to December, during the prevalence of t h e southwest monsoon,
residence on the coast is far from unpleasant, and although i t is hotter during the other six months of the year, the nights are always fairly
cool. On the whole the health of the coast belt is good; there is very
little malaria, and yellow fever-the scourge of the tropical coasts of the
Western Hemisphere-is unknown. Farther inland, in the scrub country
and in the river valleys, the effect of the sea breeze is lost, and the
climate is hotter and less agreeable. Malaria is also more common, but
can not .be said to be \-cry prevalent or of a severe type.
2. The highlands.-Leaving the coast belt a gradual rise is experienced
till an altitude of 9000 feet above sea level is reached on the Mau, or
18.000 on snow-clad Mount Kenia. On the whole of these uplands the
climate is excellent, healthy, and invigorating. Although the sun is
fairly strong in the middle of the day, European clothing can be worn all
the year round, and the nights are cold enough to render the use of two
or more blankets indispensable. The fact that children born and bred
on these high plateaux grow up rosy and robust is sufficient evidence of
the excellence of the climate.
3. The dGtrict around Lake Victoria Nyunza.-From the highlands a
somewhat rapid descent is made to the depression in which lies Lake
Victoria. This is 3680 feet above sea level, and a tropical climate is
again met with. It is hot, and owing t o the vicinity of high hills thunder-
storms are of frequent occurrence. The climatic conditions are less
favorable [to health], and at certain seasons of the year malarial and
hmmoglobinuric fevers are not infrequent.
TABLE 1.-Rainfull summary, Britbh Enst Africa, 1896-1904.
~
-.
~~~~
I I I1 I
1900.
__
12.20
5.09
13.18 2.29 5. s-3 3.20
3.24 3.01 5.41 9.12 10.62
10.83
82.33
Kisma u M a d i .:I::: Taliaungu .... Mom hasa ..... Shimoni ...... hfwatate ......
Month.
January.. February.. March. April.. hfay.
June.,
......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
189;. 1898.
~
......... 9.51
........ 28.55
............ 27.89
............ 6.67
.............. 4.19
............ 4.86
‘9
7
6
6
8 2
Jolv ....... I.. ..... 4.86
Inches.
35.82 36.24
48. 21 37. 80 73.42
51.23
1S.31
27.76
22.39
8.53 4.56
7.85
14.70 6.25
6.65
6.83
9.86
g.02
~~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~
CLIMATE OF TULAGI, hOLOMON IHL 4NDS.
From the latest colonial report on British Solomon Islands
(annual, No. 461), we extract the following table of rainfall as
recorded at the government station at Tulagi, together with a
brief sketch of the climate.
TABLE 2.- Rainfall of Tulagi, d‘olomon lalands. IN7-19t~:i.
3.96 14.78 5.62
14.12 17.61 21.20
10.73 53.19 ....... 5.68 6.75 ....... 3 .8 4 1 0 .7 7 ....... 7.99 2.12 ......
14:B 8.91 ....... 10.03 5.53 ....... 10.39 7.01 ....... 10.69 3.35 ....... 16.76 6.00 ......
7.79 4.32 .......
.......
9.94 September.. October ....
10.53
Year ...... .... ./147.39
__
1901.
10.93
1y 46
10.83
6. 75
17.59 10.69 5.53 13.24
10. 35 16.60
7. Y7 11.91
133.85
1903. 1 1903. I 1904. I 1905. I
l i .9 9
16.5’3
18.04
8. I 6
7.Y5 5. $?
8.43
10.34 8.44
10.03
9. 78
11.91
142.70 1116.26 1110.64 1 ....
It will be gathered from the table that the months from December to
March, the season of the northeast monsoon, are the wettest, and that
the month8 from April t o September, the season of the southeast trade
wind, are those during which less rain falls. No period of the year can,
however, rightly be called E dry season. June appears to be the month
when least rain is t o be expected. The septennial average for July is
affected by the abnormal rainfall for that month recorded during the
year 1899, when about 17 inches of rain fell in two days. This appears t o
have been an altogether exceptional phenomenon. The comparat.ively
small total for the year 1900 is remarkable when compared with the
annual totals for the remainder of the septennial period.
The southeast trade-wind season may be said to set in during March
or April and to continue until November. During the months from
November to March long periods of calm weather are experienced,
varied by westerly and northwesterly minds, which sometimes blow with
considerable force: but cyclonic storms. such as prevail during this se&
son in more southerly latitudes, are unknown in the Solomons.
In the absence of proper instruments it has been impossible to keep
any record of temperature or barometric pressure. A thermometer on the veranda at the government1esidence at Tulagi, about 220 feet above
sea level, has never recorded a lower night temperature than 7 3 O F.,
and during the cooler months, June to September, rises to about 860 to
880 during the day. During the hot months, December to February, a temperature of 9 2 O has occasionally been observed when the heat has not
been tempered by a breeze off the sea.
THE CLIMATE OF SEISTAN.
Col. Sir Henry RiIcMahon, head of the British Seistan Mis-
sion of 1903-5, contributes some interesting notes on the
cliinate of that region to the September and October, 1906,
numbers of the Geographical Journal.
famous
for a wind, the most vile and abominable in the universe ”.
Seistan, as Lord Curzon has recently remarked, is
Colonel ILIcMahon says:
If ever a country merits the title of ‘I land of the winds ” it is Seistan.
Everyone who has visited Seistan, or written about Seistan, has men-
tioned ita celebrated wind, called the ‘‘ Bad-i-sad-o-bist roz ”, or wind of
120 days, which blows in the summer. Few of these have had the mis-
fortune to experience it, hiit as me went through two seasons of this wind
we are able t o say something about it. It more than justifles its repu-
tation. It sets in at the end of May, or the middle of June, and blows
with appalling violence and with little or no cessation till about the end
of September. It always Idows from one direction, a little west of north
(between 316h0 and 3332O), and reaches a velocity of over 70 miles an
hour. I t creates a pandemonium of noise, sand, and dust, and for a
time gets on one’s nerves; but it is in reality a blessing in disguipe, for
it blows away the insects, which from April to June make life in Seistan
a perfect purgatory, mitigates the awful summer heat, and clears the
country of typhus, smallpox, and other diseases rife in the country in
May and June. This Bad-i-sad-o bist roz is not felt in the mountainous
country west and northwest of Seistan. It is said to be even more vio-
lent in Lash Jowain than in Beistan. It is less violent in Herat, and
rapidly decreases in violence south of Seistan.
One would think this 120-day wind enough. but violent winds prevail
all through the winter from December to April, and blizzards are of con-
stant occurrence. These winds always come from the same direction. The winter blizzards are terrible, and the wind attains a terriflc velocity.
In a blizzard a t the end of March, 1905, the anemometers registered a
maximum of 120 miles an hour. The average velocity for a whole
sisteen hours was over 88 miles an hour.
Everything looks wind-swept and wind-stricken. Over the greater part of the
country not a single tree exists. The present villages and habitations
are all built with their backs presentiug lilies of dead wall on the wind-
ward side. The old ruins are orimtecl a t exactly the same angle, on
account of the mind.
Many of the old ruined towns are wholly or partly buried in saud, and this burying
process goes on all the year and every year, and is covering up not only
valuable lands, ]Jut inhabited villages.
Seistan has only two seasons, winter and summer; spring and autumn
do not exist. One jumps within a few hour8 from cold winter into hot
summer, and from hot summer into cold winter. The summerlasts from April to November, seven months, and is a long weary period of
cloudless sky and great heat, which reaches a maximum in the shade
for many months of l l O o to 119O F.
IVe learn from the last administrative report of the Indian
Meteorological Department that the Seistan Mission’has pre-
sented tjo that department meteorological records estending
from June, 1003, to May, 1905, together with a note on the
climate of Seistan by Colonel McMahon.
Another recent account of the climate of Seistan is that of
Mr. Ellsworth Huntington, contained in Publication No. 26 of
the Carnegie Institution, <‘ Explorations in Turkestan, with an
Account of the Basin of Eastern Persia and Seistan ” (Wash-
ington, 1305), p. 227.
The effects of the wind are everywherevisible in Seistan.
The wind has buried large tracts of country under sand.
REPRINTS OF WORKS ON METEOROLOGY.
We have quite lately learned that the friends of science in
Japan have taken steps toward the reprinting of the mathe-
matical works of Prof. Dr. Diro Iiitao, professor of physics in