a RAINFALL AT CLIFTON. 



therefore, occurred consecutively — a fact remarkable enough in 

 itself, and rendered still more so by the circumstance, that the 

 latter part of 1874 was also rainy. Of the twenty-nine months 

 from August 1874 to December 1876, nine had a rainfall below 

 the average of twenty-four years, and twenty had a rainfall above 

 that average, the excess for the whole period being nearly 26 inches. 

 The annual average has been materially raised by these recent 

 excesses. At the end of 1872, the average deduced from the 

 twenty years which were then available was 32*048 inches. The 

 average of the last twenty-four years is 33'ii4 inches; and this 

 result, being derived from a longer period, may be assumed to be 

 more correct. 



The heaviest monthly fall in 1876 was in December — nearly 

 7 inches. That month also showed the largest departure from the 

 average. It was the wettest December of the series. 



The heaviest diurnal fall occurred on the 19th of August, when 

 a succession of thunderstorms yielded over two inches of rain. 

 But the quantity on that day seems to have varied remarkably in 

 different localities, having been at Ashley Down, on the authority 

 of Mr. W. F. Denning, more than three and a half inches. 



Excluding days on which the fall was less than a hundredth of 

 an inch, it appears that one hundred and seventy-nine days were 

 more or less rainy. On an average, therefore, rain fell on nearly 

 every second day throughout the year. 



Of snow there was but little in 1876. On the 13th of February, 

 and again on the T2th of March, the depth was two inches, and 

 this was the greatest depth recorded. 



