nfall in the
central uplands. Vertical currents initiated when the Mediterranean
air is uplifted also result in frequent thunderstorms. Many of them in
this area are violent and are accompanied by high local winds and
torrential downpours.

_Table 1. Temperature and Precipitation Averages for Selected Locations
in Albania_

Average Temperatures* Annual
Elevation Coldest Warmest precipitation
Place Location (in feet) Annual month month (in inches)

Shkoder Northern coastal
lowlands 50 59 40 78 80
Durres Central coastal
lowlands Sea level 61 47 77 38
Vlore Southern coastal
lowlands do 62 48 77 39
Sarande Albanian Riviera do 63 ... ... 55
Tirana Mid-Albania at
base of central
uplands 360 58 42 76 49
Puke North-central
uplands 2,850 51 34 70 72
Kruje Central uplands 2,000 55 39 71 67
Korce Eastern highlands 2,850 51 ... ... 30

*In degrees Fahrenheit.

Source: Adapted from _Vjetari Statistikor i R. P. Sh., 1967-1968_.
Tirana, 1968, pp. 18-19; and Great Britain, Admiralty, Naval
Intelligence Division, _Albania_, London, 1945, p. 93.

When the continental system is weak, Mediterranean winds drop their
moisture farther inland. When there is a dominant continental air mass,
it spills cold air onto the lowland areas. This occurs most frequently
in the winter season. Since the season's lower temperatures damage olive
trees and citrus fruits, their groves and orchards are restricted to
sheltered places with southern and western exposures, even in areas that
have seemingly high average winter temperatures.

Lowland rainfall averages from forty to nearly sixty inches annually,
increasing between those extremes from south to north. Nearly 95 percent
of the rain falls during the rainy season.

Rainfall in the upland mountain ranges is higher. Adequate records are
not available, and estimates vary widely, but annual averages are
probably about 70 inches and are as high as 100 inches in some northern
areas. The seasonal variation is not quite as great as in the