228 J. HOPKOfSOX — METEOROLOGICAL OBSEEVATIOIfS 



April. — A month of average temperature and humidity, hut 

 very cloudy and wet, the rain heing frequent as well as heavy. 

 The nights were a degree and a half warmer than usual and the 

 days just as much cooler ; the daily range of temperature was 

 therefore small. On the 8th, 9th, and 11th there were slight 

 falls of snow. The temperature was very variable. 



May. — A rather cold and wet month, with about an average 

 amount of humidity and cloud. Both day and night temperatures 

 were equally (or nearly so) below the average. There was a 

 thunderstorm with heavy rain on the 12th. At Berkhamsted, 

 Mr. Mawley reports, during a very heavy shower which occurred 

 early in the morning of the 20th, rain was falling for ten minutes 

 at the mean rate of an inch an hour. No rain fell at our four 

 stations during the last week in the month, except 0-01 in. at 

 Bennington on the 26th, this being the commencement of an 

 absolute drought which lasted until the 18th of June. 



June. — Of average temperature, with a rather diy atmosphere, 

 a very bright sky, and an average rainfall on a very small number 

 of days. No rain fell until the 1 8th, there having been at nearly 

 all stations in the county an absolute drought since the 24th of 

 May, or for 25 days, an unusually long period for an entire absence 

 of rain. The days were rather warmer and the nights rather 

 colder than usual. The three days 4th to 6th were very warm, 

 having a mean temperature about 6° or 7° above the average for 

 the month. At Berkhamsted it was 65°" 1, and at St. Albans 66°-5. 

 The maximum temperature on the 5th and 6th was nearly the 

 same ; at Berkhamsted and Bennington the 5th was the hottest 

 day, at ISt. Albans the 6th, and that day was so at most meteoro- 

 logical stations throughout England. The maximum temperature 

 exceeded 8U° on each of these three days. On the night of 

 14th- 15th the exposed (grass-minimum) thermometer at Berkham- 

 sted registered 2° of frost, which is an unusually low reading, 

 Mr. Mawley remarks, for the middle of June. The weather again 

 became very warm towards the end of the month, and the 26th 

 was an unusually hot day, the previous night also being very 

 warm. The mean temperature of this day was 70° at Berk- 

 hamsted, 67°-7 at St. Albans, and 69°-5 at Hertford. There 

 was a thunderstorm on the 28th, reported from Odsey, Hitchin, 

 Kensworth, and Broxbourne, and again on the 30th, general over 

 the county, when the rainfall at Bennington was 0-84 in., at Berk- 

 hamsted ri9 in., at St. Albans 0'71 in., and at New Barnet 0-87 in. 



July. — Yery warm, with a very dry atmosphere, a very bright 

 sky, and less than the average rainfall on a small number of days. 

 The mean temperature was 3°'6 above the average, and both days 

 and nights were warm. The 11th was a veiy warm day, the mean 

 temperature at Berkhamsted being 70°-5, at St. Albans 69°-9, and 

 at Hertford 71°. The four days 18th to 21st were very wann, 

 the mean temperature at Berkhamsted being 69°-3, at St. Albans 

 70° 2, and at Hertford 70°-6. There were thunderstorms on the 

 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. On the 22nd, the rainfall at Bennington 



