Page 424 - The British Big Four

Corals reefs, which protect the soft, limestone coastlines from wave-
erosion, are protected by law. The island is thinly covered by a red soil, F.) temperatures officially have never been observed in Bermuda, the
high in iron, but low in magnesium. Yellowish leaf color of plants in
many areas of the island is a result of the low levels of magnesium,
which is used in producing chlorophyll. Due to the lime content of
the stone on which it sits, the soil is also very alkaline. In most parts
of Bermuda, the soil is rarely more than a few inches deep, though, in
some low-lying, inland areas it has collected quite deeply. At one point,
the land mass of Bermuda was about 200 square miles (520 km2), large
enough to allow the genetic diversity for many plants and animals that
established themselves to develop into unique species and sub-species.
Because the limestone cap is porous, rainwater quickly sinks through it
and there are no permanent streams, or standing bodies of freshwater.
A well sunk anywhere in Bermuda will find water as soon as it reaches
sea level (the water table). Unfortunately, this water is brackish, since
the rainwater filtering down from above mixes with sea water from
below. Due to the high porosity of the limestone, there are few avail-
able freshwater lenses that are fully unmixed with salt water.[citation
needed] Despite the apparent lack of fresh groundwater, Bermuda is
lush and green, a result of the consistent, high levels of rainfall. Ber-
muda’s human inhabitants traditionally collect water from the roofs of
their houses, and hillsides surfaced as catchments,
Bermuda is located in the Subtropics and has a humid subtropical cli-
mate. Bermuda experiences hot and humid summers with the major-
ity of precipitation falling from isolated showers and thunderstorms.
Occasional Tropical Waves and Tropical Cyclones can also play a role
in summertime precipitation totals when they exit the tropics. Winters
are mild, with temperatures rarely falling below 10 °C (50 °F). Precipi-
tation in wintertime is controlled by sometimes frequent fronts mov-
ing eastward from the North American continent. During the peak of
winter in Bermuda, these fronts can be followed by northwesterly gales
and gusty showers that sometimes contain small hail. Sub-freezing (32
strong winds following winter-season cold fronts can result in wind
chill values dramatically below actual air temperatures. While precipi-
tation is fairly evenly distributed through the year, it is somewhat less
reliable in April and May, Bermuda’s driest months on average, when
the Bermuda-Azores High can bring extended dry spells.
Bermuda’s weather is largely controlled by the position and structure
of the Bermuda-Azores High. This semi-permanent, warm, subtropi-
cal high pressure (often centered southwest of the Azores) extends a
ridge westward toward Bermuda during the spring and summer when
the high is most intense. Oriented west-to-east to the near south of
Bermuda, clockwise flow around the surface high brings prevailing
winds from the southwest for much of the summer and subsequently
prevents fronts from reaching the island. Because Bermuda is over
1000 km away from the nearest land, even Polar and Arctic air masses
following wintertime cold fronts are moderated greatly by the rela-
tively warm Gulf Stream and western Atlantic Ocean waters between
North America and Bermuda.
A local weather phenomenon that occurs mainly in late summer is
colloquially known as “Morgan’s Cloud”. On otherwise fair, hot sum-
mer days with light southwesterly winds, convective clouds can de-
velop along the length of the island and blow to the northeast growing.
In extreme cases, this cloud formation can develop into heavy showers
and thunderstorms and it has been known to produce funnel clouds
and waterspouts in the eastern parishes.