The Botany of Iceland - 01.12.1914, Page 94

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THORODDSEN
expressed in the height of the baronieter at Iceland and in the
Azores, have, as is well-known, a very great influence upon the
climate of western Europe.1
The wind blows with great force over Iceland and storms are
frequent, especially in the winter half of the year. At Stykkisholm
there are, on an average, 50 days of storm annually; in the Vest-
mannaeyjar 25; and on Grímsey 11. On the west coast the majority
(60 %) of the storms are from the NE., while in East Iceland the
NW. wind is the most stormy, causing 50 %. As the fisheries along
the coast of Iceland are carried on especially in the winter half of
the year (the fishing season along the south-west coast begins in
February), the storms constantly cause a great many disasters at
sea. During the years 1850—1877 (with the exception of 1853 and
1875, for which no data are to hand) 2008 people were drowned
otf Iceland, forming 3 % of the total number of deaths during those
years; of these, 60% were drowned in March. During the years
1881—1910, 2096 persons were drowned out of a population of
70,000—80,000. Both in northern and eastern Iceland the Föhn wind,
which blows down from the Jökulls of the plateau, is fairly com-
mon during winter and causes a sudden rise of temperature, re-
sulting in the melting of the snow in the lowlands and of the ice
upon the surface of the lakes and rivers. N. Hoffmeyer2 describes
a Föhn wind which blew down from Vatnajökull over south-east
Iceland from September 18th to 26th, 1877, causing the temperature
at Berufjord and on Papey to rise from 7°—8° C. to as much as
18°—20° C.; otherwise, such a high temperature is very rare at these
stations, even at midsummer.
The oceanic character of the Icelandic climate is manifested in
the low degree of heat experienced during summer and the mild-
ness of the winter. The mean temperature of the coldest days along
the coast of Iceland (Stykkisholm, Berufjord and Grímsey) was in
1 J. Hann: Die Anomalien der Witterung auf Island in dem Zeitraume 1851
bis 1900 und deren Beziehungen zu den gleichzeitigen Witterungsanomalien in
Nordwestevropa (Sitzungsberichte d. Akademie d. Wissenschaften in Wien. Math.-
naturw. Klasse. Band 113, Abteilung II a, Wien, 1904. S. 183—269). H. H. Hilde-
hrandsson: Quelques recherches sur les centres d’action de 1 atmosphére IV. Sur
ia compensation entre les types des saisons simultanés en diíférentes régions de
la terre (Kungl. Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar, Band 45, No 11. Stock-
holm, 1910).
2 N. Hoffmeyer: Vejrforholdene paa Island i Vinterhalvaaret 1877—78 (Tids-
skrift for populær Fremstilling af Naturvidenskaben, 5. Række, V Bind, 1878, pp.
161—172).