The extreme high temperature of the interior division equals that of
points lying a dozen degrees south in other longitudes, and the
desiccated winds from the west, as they blow over this parched and
heated surface, have their aridity rather than their humidity increased,
as would be the case in other circumstances; and not till they reach
within perhaps five hundred miles of the eastern boundary of this
continental division do they increase in humidity, as indicated by the
rain-fall, which rises in quantity from the low minimum of seven and a
half cubic inches per annum in the "great basin," and fifteen on the
"great plains," to about twenty in Dakota territory and twenty-five in
Minnesota, the eastern limit of this continental climate.

The effect of these dry winds on the humidity of the atmosphere in
Minnesota is unquestioned and demonstrable by the records kept of the
various governmental posts over the whole country. In contrast, the
amount of rain falling annually in this State is shown by these
statistics to be much below that of any lying east of the Mississippi,
in the variable-climatic district; and, indeed, below that of every
other in the entire Union, excepting Nebraska, which averages about the
same amount of rain-fall, though without the same amount of dryness and
elasticity, which are such notable features in the atmosphere of the
former State.

The mean annual amount of rain falling in New England is about
forty-three inches, nearly double that of Minnesota, exhibiting the vast
difference in the humidity of the two localities, and this, in
connection with the cold easterly winds before referred to as prevailing
there at intervals, together with the severe changes (and which, it
should not be forgotten, add to the quantity of moisture), may be