THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 257 



constancy and with more force than usual in September. This month 

 seldom passes without rain, but on the present occasion the only rain 

 was a trifling shower on the 15th. There was a heavy rain at Los 

 Angeles about the same time. 



The weather of October was generally agreeable. Mean tempera- 

 ture at sunrise, 53.32; 9 a. m., 60.97; noon, 68.13; 10 p. m., 55.42. There 

 were three days above 80, the warmest being 83. The minimum tem- 

 perature was 46. It was the warmest month of the year, except July. 

 The winds were light, and distributed to west, northwest, north, and 

 south, the first predominating. The most extraordinary feature of the 

 month was its ti"equent rains. Rain fell on no less than 10 days ; quan- 

 tity 2.12 inches. The first rain was' on the 4th. At Marysville the 

 ground was covered with hail on the 23d. At the close of the month 

 the hills around the city began to look green, and the wise men pre- 

 dicted a very rainy winter. 



The climate of November was very fine. Mean at sunrise, 50.67; 9 

 A. M., 55.97; noon, 65.13; 10 p. m., 53.00. The extremes were 72 and 

 47. The mornings ranged Irom 47 to 55, and the noondays from 58 

 to 72. The v/inds were from west, northwest, and north, and gentle 

 as zephjTS. The sky was almost uninterruptedly clear. A single rain 

 fell, amounting to four tenths of an inch ; and the wise men reversed 

 their prediction and promised a very dry winter instead of a wet one. 



December furnished a continuation of the fine weather of November, 

 with a decline of temperature corresponding to the season. Mean at 

 sunrise, 47.03 ; 9 a. m., 51.32 ; noon, 60.65 ; it) p. m., 49.39. There were 

 a number ol" slight frosts, and ice formed in favorable situations, though 

 the minimum temperature was 38. The warmest day was 71. The 

 most gentle breezes prevailed from north, northeast, and northwest. 

 There were 15 days entirely clear. A trifling rain, .08 inches, fell on 

 the 3d, and no more until the 31st, when a rain storm set in, which was 

 quickly handed over to the new year, leaving three tenths of an inch 

 to December. 



The mean temperature of the whole year sums up as follows: Sun- 

 rise, 49.68; 9 a. m., 57.11; noon, 64.57; 10 p. m., 51.76. The mean 

 of the sunrise and noon observations gives the figure ibr the year, 57.13. 

 The temperature for 1851, deduced in the same way, was 56.57; 1852, 

 56.53; and 1853, 58.51. The year 1853 appears to have been un- 

 usually warm. Taking 1854 as a fair representation of the climate of 

 San Francisco, it follows that our climate is two or three degrees 

 warmer than that of the corresponding latitude on the Atlantic coast, 

 though it does not exhibit the extremes either of heat or cold incident to 

 the latter. 



The extreme of heat in 1854 was 87. There Avere only twelve days 

 in the year at or above 80, of which one was in April, four in July, 

 two in August, two in September, and three in October. In 1851 there 

 were nine days at or above 80; in 1852. thirteen; and in 1853, eleven. 



The extreme of cold was 25. There were three days in the year 

 when the mercury fell to the freezing point, all in January. In 1851, 

 the thermometer tell to the freezing point on one day only ; in 1852, 

 35 was the lowest depression ; and in 1853, it did not sink belov/ 40. 



The warmest month in the year was July, then October, then Sep- 

 Mis. Doc. 24 17 



