CLIMATE AND SOIL. In Connecticut the aver age annual temperature decreases from about 50° F. on the southern coast to about 48° in the northeastern part and 46° in the north west. in midwinter the average temperatures decrease from about 30° along the southern ?oast to 24° in the northern part. In all por tions of the State the temperature usually de scends below zero at times during the winter, nul may even fall as low as —10° or —15° F. to midsummer the average temperature is about 72' along the southern coast, but increases to 74° in the middle interior, and decreases again to about 70' in the northwest. During the sum mer extreme temperatures ranging from 00° to 100° F. may lie expected in all parts of the State.
The prevailing; winds in Connecticut are from the westward. In the winter the prevailing wind throughont most of the State is from the no•th west, and in midsummer from the southwest throughout the State. The general or prevailing southwest winds during the summer months con siderably lessen the land temperatures on the southern coast and to some distance inland, while the prevailing northwest winds during the winter carry the inland cold air to the coast. The relative humidity varies from 70 to SO per cent., and is greater in winter and less in the spring than at other times of year. Through
out most of the State the average rainfall during the year is from 45 to 50 inches. The precipita tion is quite evenly distributed over the entire year; on the average a little more than 5 inches falls during each of the spring and summer months and a little over 4 inches during each of the fall and winter months. The snowfall varies very much from year to year, but on all average for a series of years about 40 inches fall on the southern coact, and there is a rather regular in crease toward the northern part of the State to 50 inches in the northeast corner and to 60 inches iu the northwest corner.
The valley land of Connecticut is usually a rieh alluvial deposit, which has left the hill land rather thin in soil and barren, but nevertheless still of great value for fruit, grass, and pasture. The northern part of the Connecticut River Valley, as far smith as Middletown, has a rich, deep, loamy soil, often with a clay subsoil. In the southern part of the State, however, and along the coast, the soil is sandy. In the south west there is a dark argillaceous soil, and in the northeast a light gray loam.
For flora and fauna, see paragraphs under UNITED STATES.