The Climate.
Atlanta is on the crest of the ridge dividing the watershed of the Atlantic Ocean from that of the Gulf of Mexico, and its elevation of 1,052 feet gives a bracing atmosphere. The mean annual temperature, based on all available records, is 60.8 degrees. The highest annual mean was 64.0 in 1871, preceded by the lowest, 56.9, in 1868. The mean temperature of the winter months is 44.1, of the spring months, 60.5, of the summer, 77.0, and of the autumn, 61.5. The highest monthly mean was 82.2, in July, 1875, the lowest, 34.4, in February, 1895. The warmest winter month was December, 1889, with a mean of 57.2; the coolest summer month was June, 1866, mean, 68.9. The highest temperature on record is 100, which occurred on July 19, 1887, and is the only instance of its kind. The lowest temperature on record is -8.5, on February 13, 1899. The temperature has registered at zero, or below, but on three other dates in the last twenty-six years, viz.:— -1, January 6, 1884; -2, January 11, 1886, and zero February 8, 1895.
Summer nights are cool and the low percentage of humidity makes the days comfortable. The average date of first killing frost is November 4th, and of the last in spring, March 29th, leaving an average growing season of 219 days.