254 



NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



No. 7.— THE WEATHER OF FEBRUARY, 1854. 



The subjoined figures will enable the reader to compare this month 

 with the corresponding months of 1851, 1852, and 1853: 



Mean temperature at sunrise 



Mean temperature at noon 



Mean temperature at 10 o'clock p. m.. 



Monthly temperature 



Maximum 



Minimum 



Range 



Clear, (proportion,) 



Cloudy, (proportion,) 



Whole days clear 



Rain on 



Quantity 



North and northwest winds 



Northeast and east winds 



South and southeast winds 



Southwest and west winds 



High winds 



1851. 



41.97 

 60.03 

 43.64 

 51.00 

 71.00 

 33.00 

 38.00 

 23 days. 

 5 days. 

 14 days. 



4 days. 

 0.35 inch. 

 9 days. 



2 days. 



5 days. 

 12 days. 



days. 



1852. 



45.69 

 60.41 

 49.59 

 53.05 

 65.00 

 40.00 

 25.00 

 21 days. 

 8 days. 



5 days. 

 4 days. 

 0.12 inch. 



6 days. 



3 days. 



4 days. 

 16 days. 



days. 



1853. 



48.18 

 60.07 

 51.00 

 54.13 

 67.00 

 42.00 

 25.00 

 22 days. 



6 days. 

 17 days. 



4 days. 



1.16 inch. 

 10 days. 



1 day. 



8 days, 



9 days. 

 days. 



1854. 



47.93 



59.21 



49.07 



53.57 



69.00 



38.00 



31.00 



15 days. 



13 days. 



5 days. 

 13 days. 



8.41 inch. 



8 days. 



2 days. 



8 days. 

 10 days. 



1 day. 



The temperature of the month was about the medium standard. At 

 sunrise it was not nearly so cold as 1851, but at noon it was rather 

 below either of the other years, owing to the large number of cloudy 

 and rainy days, which are apt to be cool at noon. On three or four 

 mornings there were slight frosts. In the middle of the month, and 

 again on the 28th, the coast mountains were seen covered with 

 snow, as they mostly are when the rains at this point are accompanied 

 with a temperature below 50. The most extraordinary feature of the 

 month was the quantity of rain. February is usually a dry month, 

 but this year it was the exact reverse. In February, 1851, the quan- 

 tity was 0.35 inches ; February, 1852, 0.12 inches ; February, 1853, 

 1.16 inches ; making in three months an aggregate of 1.63 inches, or 

 less than one-fifth of the supply for the month just past. In the three 

 years just mentioned, the greatest monthly supplies of rain were as 

 follows : December, 1851, 7.07 inches ; March, 1852, 6.40 inches ; 

 November, 1852, 5.31 inches ; December, J 852, 11.90 inches ; April, 

 1853, 5.05 inches. Thus it appears that February of the present year 

 exceeded any other month in that period, except December, 1852. 



Up to the first of March, the quantity of rain since the dry season 

 was 16.26 inches. At the same date in 1851, the quantity was 3.40 

 inches ; in 1852, 11.11 inches ; and in 1853, 23.28 inches. The rains 

 of this winter, therefore, though much greater than those of 1851 and 

 1852, have been but little over two-tiiirds of last winter's supply at 

 this date. Subsequent to this date in 1851, and before the dry season, 

 rain fell on twenty days, quantity 3.71 inches ; in 1852, on eighteen 

 days, 6.89 inches ; in 1853, on seventeen days, 10.18 inches. From 

 these data we may infer that our rains are by no means at an end. 



