METEOROLOGICAL NOTES FOR 1883. 81 



by south-west. We had the Christmas rose in 

 flower at the Queen's Park on the 8th, and the 

 single primrose bloomed on the 21st. 



February weather was of much the same charac- 

 ter as the previous month, but milder. Rain fell on 

 20 days, but the showers were not so heavy as in 

 January, and the rainfall amounted to only 2*29 

 or one-third of what fell the previous month. It 

 will be observed, however, that the number of 

 rainy days w^as 2 in excess of January. 10' 

 of frost were registered during the month, on 8 

 mornings ; and the average temi:)erature was 10*1 

 — a high average for the month of February. There 

 was a large number of i)lants in flower in the 

 various parks during the month, consequent on the 

 mildness of tlie weather. On the 4tli we had in 

 flower snowdro2)s, hepatica. Daphne Mezereum; on 

 the 13th, Rhododendron praecox, and the crocus ; on 

 the 27th, Erica herbacea, winter aconite, marsh 

 marigolds, and the polyanthus. Tlie prevalent winds 

 during the month were from the south-west. 



The mild weather which had been experienced 

 <luring the first two months of the year continued 

 for only 8 days during March. On the 9tli it 

 suddenly changed to extreme cold, the nights being 

 very frosty, and there were high Avinds from the 

 north-east. On the 16th there was a heavy fall of 

 snow, which lay on the ground to a depth of 12 

 inches. The thermometer fell below the freezing 

 point on no less than 22 days, and 88° of frost were 

 registered in all. Fortunately the rainfall Avas very 

 small, there being only r25 inches during the whole 

 of the month — the smallest total of any month 

 during the whole of the yeav. On 23 da^ s no rain fell, 

 so that altogether March was a ver^' dry, though cold, 

 month. The average temperature fell back to 37'1, 

 or 3° less than February. Daffodils appeared for 

 the first time in flower on the 28th, and the Scilla 

 Sibirica on the 31st. 



April proved a most seasonable month, especially 



