Meteorological Observations for January 1831. 239 



Scale of the prevailing Winds. 



N. N.E. E. S.E. S. S.W. W. N.W. Days. 

 4 5i 8 5| 2* 1 i 4 31 



General Observations. The first part of this month was dry, the latter 

 part was wet and alternately mild and cold, with occasional gales of wind. 

 After the aurora borealis in the evening of the llth, the sky was hidden 

 by clouds till the 24th, with the exception of about one day. 



On the 23rd the thermometer in the shade rose to fifty-three degrees, and 

 on the 26th only to thirty-four degrees : in the night of the 22nd it receded 

 only to forty-six degrees, but in the night of the 25th, to twenty-five de- 

 grees, the minimum temperature for the month. 



On the 25th and 26th there was a uniform elevation of the mercury in 

 the barometer, but a very sudden depression of four-fifths of an inch on 

 the 27th, with rain. On the 28th and 29th-the mercury rose half an inch 

 in the tube, and a little snow came on with an easterly wind. On the de- 

 scent of the mercury on the 31st between three and four inches of snow 

 fell here in the night, even with a strong gale from the south. In the 

 neighbourhood of London upwards of two feet in depth of snow are said to 

 have fallen upon a plane surface about the same time ; and in place? where 

 it had drifted, the stage-coaches could not pass before it was cleared away, 

 consequently they were several hours behind their usual time. 



The atmospheric and meteoric phaenomena that have come within our 

 observations this month, are one lunar halo, four meteors, four aurorae 

 boreales, and seven gales of wind, or days on which they have prevailed, 

 namely, four from the North-east, one from the East, one from the South, 

 and one from the South-west. 



REMARKS. 



London. January 1, 2. Fine. 3, 4. Overcast. 5. Foggy. 6. Fine: 

 clear and frosty at night. 7. Clear, with frost : dense fog at night. 

 8. Frosty. 9. Overcast. 10. Hazy, with small rain. 11. Cloudy and cold. 

 12, 13. Drizzly and foggy. 14. Hazy. 15, 16. Cold and clamp. 17. Cloudy: 

 slight rain at night. 1 8. Rain : lightning at night. 19 23.Wet. 24. Sleet: 

 frosty at night. 25, 26. Clear and frosty. 27. Sleet. 28, 29. Fine. 



30. Fine: foggy at night. 31. Frosty: fog in the morning, succeeded by 

 a heavy fall cf snow. 



Penzance. January 1. Fair: rain at night. 2. Rain : fair. 3. 4. Fair. 

 5. Misty. 6. Fair. 7 9. Clear. 10 16. Fair. 17 19. Misty: rain. 

 20. Fair: rain. 21,22. Rain. 23. Fair: misty. 24, 25. Showers, hail, 

 and rain. 26. Showers. 27. Rain. 28. Showers. 29, 30. Fair : rain. 



31. Fair. 



Boston. January 1 . Fine. 2,3. Cloudy. 4. Misty. 5. Cloudy. 6. Fine. 

 7. Fine : northern lights very brilliant in the evening. 8, 9. Fine. 

 10 16.Cloudy. 17. Cloudy: rain P.M. 18. Fine. 19. Mist)'-. 20.Cloudy: 

 stormy with rain P.M. 21, 22. Cloudy: rain at night. 23. Rain. 

 24. Cloudy. 25. Fine : snow early A.M. 26. Fine. 27. Cloudy. 28. Fine. 

 29, 30. Cloudy. 31. Fine. 



Meteoro- 



