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Show . 12 WASHINGTON TERRITORY, ITS MATERIAL N orthernly winds prevail in summer, blowing down the coast, and entering the Gulf of Georgia,,and the Strait of Fuca, spread out over the valley of Puget Sound, giving the delightful coolness for the .brow of him who gathers the golden sheaves, and joy to all God's creatures. · _About the middle of. November usually begil'}s our falling, or wmter weather, and from this time until the first of February, we are blest with rain in quantities. On an· average, during th~se two and a half months, one third of the time way be styled· ~·amy, although ~t does not rain hard much of the time. February IS generally ~uite pleasant, and many plant their gardens and ornament thmr grounds during this month. I-Iowever, March usually ~avors ~s w~th one or two weeks of blustry, rainy weather, after whiCh sprmg IS full upon us, and earth soon glows with her accustomed beauty. The coldest morning ever experienced at Seattle, mercm·! stood one degree above zero. That waE! during the extreme wmter of 1861-2, a winter the like of which was unknown to the oldest settlers upon the northern coast. As a rule, we have perhaps, three weeks of time in winter when the ground wil~ be frozen in the morning to the depth of h~lf an ineh, some mormngs to the depth of an ineh. . It always thaws during the day, and generally the frost disap~ears by noon. Snow rarely falls, and when we have such a VISitor, the first ray of noon-day sun, is the signal for its departure. Very rarely indeed does the snow remain upon the ground lon?er than thirty-six hours. Only once in my stay of four yeai~s m the Territory, have we had a sleighing snow on Puget _So~nd. The cause of this mildness in winter, or at least the ~rmmpal cause, is the prevalence of a south-westerly wind blowmg off the equator, which touches our coast, enters Shoal: water bay a'nd Grey's harbor, passes up the valley of the Shehales, crosses the Pas~, or low land between the Shehales and Puget Sound and disseminates its warmth throughout the entire . valle.y · Th us, m· ·w m· ter·, we eU·J oy a breeze from the sunny South a~~ m sum~er _one from the north-west, equalizing our tempera~ tm e, rendermg It constantly pleasant, and conducive to health~ b There is all the enjoyment and benefit that accrues from the sea reeze, yet without the harshness that attends its immediate e;tr_ance u~on the land. Softened and made plea~ant by a transit o Sixty miles from Grey's Harbor to Olympia in winter, and / .. , RESOURCES AND CLAIMS TO EMIGRATION. 13 tempered by land influence from the Gulf of Georgia, to the Sound in summer, our sea breeze cannot fail of adding much to the pleasantness of the climate. East of the Cascades, the climate is characterized by intenser cold, more snow, and less rain in winter; fewer showers in summer, a much dryer atmosphere, and more windy weather.. The four seasons are more distinctly marked, than on the Sound. Even in the valley of the upper Columbia the winters al'e more pleasant than in New-England, or the States bordering the upper Mississippi. METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. Abstract .of Meteorological observations mad.e by the United States Coast Survey Department, on the Strait of San Juan de Fuca, Archipelago de Hare, Admiralty Inlet and Puget Sound, during the summers of 1855, '56 and '57. 1855. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ln. July,. ... ..... . . . ................................ 71.5 53.3 90.9 29.9 48.2 9.4 33.7 0.44 August, ..................................... . .. ... 70.2 53.4 83.3 24.7 49.8 6.6 29.7 .43 September, ........ .. .... ......................... 65.8 52.5 77.7 18.3 49.3 8.6 20.0 .91 Three weeks in October, .......................... 63.2 52.2 76.7 20.2 45.3 11.9 27.6 .38 Greatest range of temperature during the above period, 45° 6. Greatest range of barometer from June 24th to October 18th, =0.92 inches. A dry season ; heavy S. E. gales in September. 1856. •• --------------·----- 0 0 0 0 0 0 May, .... · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ~~:5 ~~:~ ~:~ ~~:~ !g:~ 16:~ June, ............................................ 72.5 51.7 84.7 29.7 43.4 14.0 July, .... · ...... · · ...... · .. · .... · · .. · ...... · .... · 72.2 53.5 e3.7 25.5 48.4 10.2 ASeupgteumsot(e·r·,· ·.·..·.··. ·. ·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·..·.·.··.·.·.·.·..·.·.·.· .· .· .· .· .· ·. .· .· .· .· .· ·. 72.8 51.1 85.1 27.5 42.0 14.4 0 in. 38.1 0.5t 34.0 .53 41.3 .43 30.2 .~6 36.5 .69 Greatest range of temperature during the above period 43° 7. Greatest range of Barometer from April 25th to September 30th, 0° 85. A wet season. |