3i)8 The Meteorology of Whitehaven. 



circumstances. A halo surrounded the luminary during the greatest 

 part of the period of obscuration. 



A corncrake's nest found near Greysouthen on the 10th. 



June. — Temperature 1°.092 under the mean, and 3°.e4: under that of 

 June 1842. From the 11th to the 19th, the weather was fine and genial ; 

 the max. temperature ranging from 66° to 72° ; and this is the longest 

 continuance of really warm weather with which we were favoured dur- 

 ing the summer. Indeed, except three or four days in July and August, 

 at long intervals apart, these eight are the only days which have attained 

 to summer temperature. The nights unusually cold. 



The hay harvest commenced in this neighbourhood on the 18th, and 

 the crops generally were abundant. 



On the 24th, there was hail on the mountains. The cuckoo was last 

 heard in the Lake districts on the 28th. i irst strawberries appeared in 

 our market on the 30th, though in many gardens they are yet only in 

 flower. 



July. — Although this year, the warmest of the twelve, it is 2°.191 un- 

 der the mean, and 1°.093 under the corresponding month of 1842. 



The rainy days are only 13, and the rain amounts to 2.90, greatly un- 

 der the average quantity for July, which is usually the wettest in the 

 year. The evaporation is now at its maximum, amounting to 5.455 in., 

 and exceeds the fall of rain by 2.55 in. 



An unusual number of thunder storms, though all distant, and one or 

 two days on which hail fell. The Chester Chronicle says, that on the 29th_, 

 snow lay on the ground in the vicinity of Bangor to the depth of three 

 inches and upwards. Early on the morning of the 6th, a dreadful thun- 

 der storm visited London, Nottingham, and Havre in France. The hail- 

 stones were in some places the size of marbles, and did an immense deal 

 of damage. In Lord Saye and Sele's grounds upwards of 4000 panes of 

 glass were broken, and at Bolbec, in France, upwards of 2000 shared a 

 similar fate. On the same evening, we had frequent flashes of lightning, 

 followed by distant thunder. The storm was then raging with terrific 

 violence over Nottingham. ^ 



On the 1st instant, we were visited by a tempest of wind and rain, 

 which for violence was scarcely equalled during the preceding winter. 

 At 10 A.M., the force by Lind's Anemometer, was 14 lbs. avoirdupois on 

 the square foot, equal to an estimated velocity of 56 miles per hour; but 

 the storm did not arrive at its height till about 2 P.M., when the force 

 would probably be 18 or 20 lbs. on the foot. 



August. — A most remarkably cold, wet, and stormy month. August, 

 which alternates with July as the hottest of the twelve, is this year the 

 coldest of the summer months, and the coldest on record, being 3°.09 

 under the average, and 6°.242 under the August of 1842. Hail on the 

 10th and 24th. Our garden fruits, as gooseberries, apples, &c., were 

 unusually late, and of very inferior quality. 



On the evening of the 7th, being in Liverpool, a friend informed me 

 that he observed a shower of shooting stars, followed by trains of blue 

 light, from the Cheshire side of the Mersey. 



On the evening of the 29th, at 9 p.m., there was an auroral blushing in 

 the NW., and about half an hour afterwards, I noticed a long tapering 

 and stationary beam, not unlike a comet's tail, emanating from the east- 

 ern horizon. Shortly after, there appeared a tolerably perfect arch, ex- 

 tended from ENE. to WSW., its centre or highest point rising to an 

 altitude of about 50°. This arch soon evanesced, and in its curve there 

 arose a beautiful set of twisted stationary streamers, approaching in 

 shape to that variety of the cirrostratus cloud, denominated the Cyma. 



In course of a quarter of an hour or so, a second set of streamers formed 

 exactly midway between the first, extending just as much below as they 



