Palestine]
valley and the narrow gorges debouching into it the heat is blistering.
Frost seldom occurs on the coast, and never in the Jordan valley, but in the mountains it is not infrequent from December to February. Snow falls each winter to a considerable depth, but lies for any long period only in the higher altitudes; it sometimes lies for over a month in northern Jaulan, and for much longer periods at heights of over 4,000 ft. in Jebel Druz, Hermon, Lebanon, and Anti-Lebanon.
Rainfall.—The average yearly rainfall varies from 16 in. to 45 in., according to the district, and is least in the south, increasing northwards. In the coastal belt Gaza has an average rainfall of 16 in., Jaffa 20 in., Haifa 26 in., Beirut 35 in., Alexandretta 36 in.; in the highland belt, Hebron 25 in., Jerusalem 26 in., Nazareth 27 in., the higher altitudes of Lebanon 45 in. The central depression in general gets much less rain, and the Ghor least of all: Jericho 8 in., Tiberias 17 in., and Damascus 27½ in. Kereye has an exceptional record of 63 in. The rainy season begins about the middle or end of November, but about five-ninths of the total fall occurs in January and February, and about one-third from mid-March to the end of April. The average number of rainy days is: Gaza 41, Jaffa 53, Beirut 82, Jerusalem 58, Kereye 80.
Winds.-On the yearly average the wind blows from the north and north-west for 114 days (May-October); from the west for 55 days, and from the south-west. and south for 46 days (winter). The sirocco sets in in May and again in October, the thermometer then rapidly rising to 100° F. or more. A light sea-wind sets in almost every morning, and blows till sundown, when the cooler land-breeze begins.
(4) Sanitary Conditions
Syria, generally speaking, may be regarded as a healthy country, and the prevalent diseases are mainly due to neglect, under the Turkish regime, of the most elementary sanitary precautions.
