Page:Provincial geographies of India (Volume 1).djvu/85

This page needs to be proofread.
ch. v]
CLIMATE
65

rainfall (including snow) of about 3 inches. The mean temperature is 43 Fahr., varying from 19 in January to 64 in July. But these figures give no idea of the rigours of the severe but healthy climate. The daily range is from 25 to 30 degrees, or double what we are accustomed to in England. Once 17 below zero was

Fig. 17. Average Barometric and Wind Chart for January.

recorded. In the rare dry clear atmosphere the power of the solar rays is extraordinary. "Rocks exposed to the sun may be too hot to lay the hand upon at the same time that it is freezing in the shade."

The Indian Zones — Meteorological factors.— The distribution of pressure in India, determined mainly by