344 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



Meteorological Record for the Years 1884, 1885, 1886, and 1887, at 



Oroville, Butte County. 



Furnished by Hiram Arents, Voluntary Signal Service Observer. 



January, 1887. — The mean temperature was an average for the last four 

 years. January, 1884, 50.45°; 1885, 53.23°; 1886, 48.18°; 1887, 50.78°; 

 average, 50.63°. The maximum was an average one: 1884, 70°; 1885, 74°; 

 1886, 66°; 1887, 70°; average, 70°. Also the minimum was an average — 

 1884. 36°; 1885, 34°; 1886, 29°; 1887, 32°; average, 32°. The mean barom- 

 eter was 30-09.23; highest, 30-42; lowest, 29-60. The reading of this 

 instrument on the twenty-eighth was the highest I have any record of; at 

 6 a. m. it was 30-40; at 10 a. m., 30-46; at 2 p. m., 30-39; at 9 p. m., 30-42. 

 Prevailing winds westerly. There were 24 clear days, 5 cloudy, and 2 fair. 

 Rain fell on the fifteenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, and sprinkled 

 on the thirteenth, fourteenth, seventeenth, twenty-fourth, and twenty-sixth 

 imperceptible for measurement. Rain fell for the month 1.02 inches. 

 For the season to date commencing with July, 1886, 4.69; light frost on the 

 seventh, tenth, twenty-second, and thirty-first, and heavy on the sixteenth 

 and twenty -fifth . On the second almond trees were in bloom; on the 

 fifteenth the apricot; twenty-ninth, the peach and nectarines. At 8 p. m. 

 on the second a brilliant meteor started westwardly. At first as seen 

 above the line of a light, thin fog, it was of a beautiful green color, and as 

 it proceeded it changed to red, and burst with a loud report, leaving a trail 

 of scintillations behind it. Duration, 6 seconds. 



February, 1887. — This month was the coldest I have any recollection of; 

 the mean was nearly 4° below the average for the last four Februaries. In 

 1884 the mean was 49.46°; 1885, 59.16°; 1886, 59.01°; 1887, 47.03°; average, 

 51.16°. The maximum ruled low during the month, excepting two days, 

 when it reached 70°; but comparing it with the last three Februaries, it 

 was but 1° below the average— 1884, 74°; 1885, 70°; 1886, 70°; 1887, 70°; 

 average, 71°. The minimum was 3° below the average — 1884, 25°; 1885, 

 38°; 1886, 44°; 1887, 32°; average, 34.3°. On the eleventh of February, 

 1884, at 6 a. m., the thermometer was 31°; at 12, noon, 38°, and raining; the 

 wind changed from N.W., and a snowstorm set in, leaving three quarters 

 of one inch on the ground. This was the first snowfall I had seen in Oro- 

 ville. During the night the weather cleared up very cold, and at 6 a. m. 

 on the twelfth my thermometer marked 25°. This was the coldest morn- 

 ing during my six years residence in Oroville, and was the first and only 

 snowfall I have seen. The present month there was 15 clear days and 

 13 cloudy. Clear days for the year, to date, 39. Invariably February 

 is a pleasant month, but this one deviated from all the others. It was 

 a cold, stormy month. It rained on the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, 



