TAKKX IN UKliTKOUDSIIIUK IX 181)7. ol 



The winter of 1806-97 (Dooemhcr to Februiuy) was mild, 

 owing almost entirely to the nights being warmer than usnal, 

 and therefore the mean daily range of temperature was small. 

 The air was rather humid, the sky cloudy, the rainfall excessive, 

 being nearly 80 per cent, above the average of the previous ten 

 years, and the number of wet days was also great. 



In the spring (March to ^Eay) tlie temperature was about the 

 average, the nights were warmer and the days rather colder than 

 usual, the daily rauge of temperature again being rather small. 

 The air was of average humidity, the sky rather cloudy, the 

 rainfall heavy, being a 5 per cent, above the average, and there 

 were rather more wet days than usual. 



The summer (June to August) was warm, and, the excess of 

 temperature being more due to the warmth of the days than 

 to that of the nights, the daily range was great. The air was 

 of about average humidity, the sky of average brightness, tlie 

 rainfall rather small, and the number of wet days less than usual. 



The autumn (September to November) was rather warm, owing 

 chiefly to the warmth of the days, so that the daily range was 

 again considerable. The air was of about average humidity, the 

 sky rather cloudy, the rainfall very small, being 45 per cent, below 

 the average, and there were fewer wet days than usual. 



We thus had a mild and very wet winter, a wet spring of 

 average temperature, a warm and rather dry summer, and a rather 

 warm and very dry autumn. January, however, was rather cold, 

 May was cold, August was very wet, and June and September were 

 wet months. So also was December. 



In the following notes on the months, Berkhamsted and St. 

 Albans are most frequently alluded to merely because I have more 

 information with regard to these places than I obtain from the 

 other meteorological stations. 



Jaxuart. — A cold and rather humid month, more cloudy than 

 usual, with much snow in the later half, which was much 

 colder than the earlier half of the month, but with only an average 

 rainfall (including snow), though the number of wet days was 

 above the average. The low temperature was chiefly due to 

 the coldness of the days, the daily range being less than usual. 

 There was very little sunshine, more than half the days in the 

 month being sunless. On Friday the 22nd there was one of 

 the heaviest snowstorms which has occurred for some years, and, 

 owing to the high wind in the night, many roads were blocked 

 and rendered impassable. Railway communication on the Luton, 

 Dunstable, and Leighton line was stopped for more than half the 

 day by two immense snow-drifts. About Kensworth there were 

 snow-drifts at least 15 feet deep. It is said to have been in some 

 places in Hertfordshire the severest snowstorm which has been 

 experienced since 18i2. Mr. Mawley says that at Berkhamsted 

 the snow was deeper on the morning of the 23rd than at any time 

 since the 6th of January, 1887, measuring 7 J inches. The most 

 noteworthy feature of this fall of snow, he says, was the dryness 



