230 J. HOPKI^rSON METEOEOLOGICAL OBSEEVATIONS 



was 0-50 in., at Berktamsted 0-92 in., at St. Albans 1-20 in., and 

 at New Bamet 0-70 in. 



Attgust. — Yery warm, with a very dry atmosphere, an exceedingly 

 bright sky, and a very small rainfall on half the average number 

 of days. The mean temperature was 4°-3 above the average, the 

 excess much more due to the warmth of the days than that of 

 the nights, the mean daily range being great. It was by far the 

 warmest and brightest month in the year, and there was more 

 sunshine registered at Berkhamsted than in any previous August. 

 There were two very warm periods of five days each with maxima 

 exceeding 80° for several days in succession at Berkhamsted and 

 almost as continuously at St. Albans. The first period was from 

 the 1st to the 5th, when the mean temperature at Berkhamsted 

 was 67°'5, at St. Albans 68°-0, and at Hertford 67°-3 ; the second 

 was the 23rd to the 27th, when it was 68°-4 at Berkhamsted, 

 68°-8 at St. Albans, and 69° at Hertford. The 15th also was 

 a very warm day. The highest temperature in the year was on 

 the 25th, to which date the maxima in all the tables pertain. 

 There was a severe thunderstoi-m on the 15th, when some damage 

 was done both by the lightning and the wind, a stack being set 

 on fire and a horse killed near Royston, trees struck near Luton 

 and Redboum, and a tree blown across the Hatfield and Dunstable 

 line near Luton Hoo. During the storm 0*76 in. of rain fell at 

 Datchworth in 20 minutes and 0*80 in. at Knebworth in 19 minutes. 

 At Berkhamsted rain fell for three minutes at the rate of two 

 inches per hour. 



Septembek. — Of average temperature, with a veiy diy atmosphere, 

 a little less cloud than usual, and a little more than the average 

 rainfall on about one-third more than the average number of days. 

 The relative humidity was 9 per cent, below the average. The 

 first week was verj^ warm, and the 5th was a particularly warm 

 day. The maximum temperature given in the tables refers at all 

 stations to this day, and is about 12° higher than the average of 

 the maxima on the 4th and 6th, and 1 5° higher than on any other 

 day in the month but the 3rd, 4th, and 8th. There were slight 

 thunderstorms on several days during the first week, and on the 

 6th there was a very severe one in East Herts. At Stanstead 

 Abbotts a large elm-tree was struck, just after 1 p.m., the bark 

 being split down the trunk, and a man sheltering under it was 

 killed. This is one of many similar instances giving a warning, 

 so often unheeded, of the danger of taking shelter under a tree in 

 a thunderstorm. There was also a thunderstorm on the 29th, 

 when there was much the heaviest fall of rain in the month, the 

 fall at Bennington being 0-77 in., at Berkhamsted 0-89 in., at 

 St. Albans 0-90 in., and at New Bamet 0-97 in. 



OcTOBEK. — Of average temperature and humidity, with a very 

 bright sky, and rather less than the average rainfall on fewer days 

 than usual. The days were warmer and the nights colder than 

 usual. There was a thunderstorm on Sunday afternoon the 1st, 

 most severe in the north of the county. At Hitchin the lightning 



