264 RESULTS OF THE METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS TAKEN DURING 



The mean annual temperature from these two years' observations is thus 22° '7, the 

 mean of February, the warmest month, being 3I°"5, and of July, the coldest, 12°"0. The 

 seasonal means are Spring 23°'3, Summer 31°'0, Autumn 22°"6, and Winter 13°7. It 

 will be seen that there are great differences in the means of the same month during 

 the two years, the temperature being controlled by the extent and distribution of the 

 pack-ice round the islands and in the Weddell Sea. Dealing again with the values for 

 the year ending March 1904, it is seen that the mean temperature of the warmest day, 

 11th February 1904, was 37°'4, and of the coldest, 2nd September, -21°'8, showing a 

 range of 59° "2 in the mean temperature of the days. 



It is interesting to observe the great difference in the mean daily range of tempera- 

 ture in Summer and Winter. Thus in January we have a range of only 3°"9 between the 

 maxima and the minima, while in June the difference is 18°'0. The following table 

 shows the mean variability of temperature for the 21 months ending December 1904, 

 the values being obtained by averaging the differences in the mean temperature of 

 successive days without reference to sign. 



Taking the means by seasons, we have for Spring a value of 5°'l, Summer V'3, 

 Autumn 5°"4, and Winter 9°'l, the continental character of the Winter climate of the 

 South Orkneys being clearly reflected in the values of temperature variability, while in 

 Summer the features pertaining to an oceanic climate are equally pronounced. 



Summary of Hourly Temperature Observations, made at Laurie Island, South Orkneys, during the 



YEAR ENDING 31ST MaRCH 1904. 



9-0 

 09 



5-3 

 22-6 

 26-7 



29 



30 3 

 30-3 

 29-6 

 18-2 



Mean ^'ean Temp. 

 Daily ilas. antl Min, 

 Range. 2 



lB-7 

 lS-0 

 16-3 



15-8 



s-a 



6-9 

 4-6 



39 

 6-0 

 6-5 

 10-3 



16-8 

 9-9 

 16-4 



13-2 

 26-9 

 29-2 



31-7 



32-2 

 32-8 

 32-2 

 23-4 



Coldest 

 Day. 



- 6-4 

 -19-3 



- 80 



- 7-4 



-21-8 

 10-9 



22-2 



28-6 



29-4 



28-6 



22-7 



-21-8 



