48 JOURNAL OF THE 



METEOROLOGICAL RECORD AT CHAPEL HILL 

 FOR THE FIVE YEARS 1880-1884. 



There is unfortunately quite a gap in the meteorological records 

 kept at Chapel Hill. For sixteen years, 1844-''o9, they were kept by 

 Dr. Jas. Phillips, and his records were published in our last Journal 

 (p. 35). There was then a period of twenty years, in which came 

 the war and disorganization of the University, when no attention 

 was paid to such matters. In 1880, fresh instruments were procured 

 and Dr. Wm. B. Phillips, grandson of the former observer, recorded 

 his observations. Since September, 1881, the records have been 

 kept by Dr. F. P. Venable, with the kind assistance of Dr. Charles 

 Phillips, and since January, 1883, these records have been each 

 month transmitted to Washington, thus placing Chapel Hill in the 

 list of voluntary Signal Service Stations. The five years of observa- 

 tions reported in this paper make a total of twenty-one years, with 

 the sixteen years already published, and give a fair idea of the cli- 

 matology of this locality. Still the gap of twenty years is much to 

 be regretted. The books of Dr. Jas. Phillips were destroyed, and 

 only his published monthly averages and sums are extant. The 

 observations for the past five years are complete, and hence admit 

 of more detailed discussion. 



TEMPERATURE. 



The mean annual temperature for the five years is 59.77^, for six- 

 teen years 59.32°, for twenty-one years 59.42°. The lowest annual 

 mean is in 1882 (58.69°). The highest is 1880 (60.90°), which is the 

 highest annual mean for the twenty-one years. 



The average temperature for the seasons is, Spring 58.35, Summer 

 77.25, Autumn 61.08, Winter 42.39. The warmest month of the year 

 is July, with a mean of 78.69°. For August, 1881, the mean was 

 81.60. The maximum daily mean was, June 12, 1880, 90.7°, and the 

 maximum observations July 22d, 1883, 102°. On July 30th, 1856, 

 the thermometer registered 105°. The coldest month is January, 

 with a mean of 39.02. The lowest monthly mean is 35.20° for Jan- 

 uary, 1881. The minimum daily mean was 10.50° for January 6th, 

 1884, and the minimum temperature observed was — 2° at 7 A. M. De- 

 cember 30th, 1880. This is the lowest temperature observed in the 

 twenty-one years. This gives a range of 104° for the five years, with 

 a mean annual range of 92.4°. 



