232 J. HOPKINSON — METEOEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



was very vivid for over an hour, and the thunder almost continuous. 

 Rain fell in torrents, and all the low-lying parts of the town 

 became flooded, the streets being covered with water from one side 

 to the other, and looking like rivers. Large hailstones fell just 

 before the storm ceased. The fall of rain on this day was 0-64 in. 

 at Bennington, 1'21 in. at Berkhamsted, 1*05 in. at St. Albans, 

 and 0-35 in. at New Barnet. The heaviest fall in the county was 



2 inches, at Gorhambury, St. Albans. At Berkhamsted, between 



3 and 4 p.m., rain fell for three minutes at the rate of two inches 

 per hour. 



November. — A rather warm and very wet month, with an 

 atmosphere of less than the average humidity and an average 

 amount of cloud. Although the rainfall was 50 per cent, above 

 the average, the number of rainy days was only two-thirds the 

 average, no rain having fallen after the 12th, and in some places 

 after the 10th, except O'Ol or 0-02 in. here and there, this period 

 being the second absolute di'ought in the year. The excessively 

 wet period of 2nd to 5th has been discussed in the previous report 

 (on the rainfall), but it may be well to give here the fall at our 

 four meteorological stations. This was, at Bennington, 2nd 0-59, 

 3rd 0-93, 4th 0-39, 5th 0-94 in., 2nd-5th 2-85 ins.; at Berkham- 

 sted, 2nd 0-14, 3rd 0-87, 4th 0-45, 5th 1-02 in., 2nd-5th 2-48 ins.; 

 at St. Albans, 2nd 0-40, 3rd 0-83, 4th 0-51, 5th 1-00 in., 2nd-5th 

 2-74 ins. ; at New Barnet, 2nd 0-48, 3rd 1-05, 4th 0-55, 5th 

 rosin., 2nd-5th 3-16 ins. ; giving a mean fall for the four days 

 of 2-81 inches, equal to about 300 tons of water per acre. There 

 was very little sunshine this month, chiefly owing to fog. 



December. — Kather cold, of about average humidity, cloudy, 

 and with a rather small rainfall, but on more than the usual 

 number of days. After a week of unseasonably mild weather, 

 there was a sudden fall in temperature, a cold period commencing 

 on the 8th and lasting until the 24th, when the temperature was 

 considerably above the normal, and the last week in the month, 

 although not so warm as the first, was almost as much warmer for 

 the time of the year as that was. Snow fell on the lOth, 11th, 

 12th, 15th, 22nd, and 27th, but only slightly except on the r2th, 

 when it covered the ground to the depth of about an inch and 

 a half. There was a very small amount of sunshine, owing in some 

 measure to the prevalence of fog, as in November. Under the 

 heading " Signs of a Hard Winter," the ' Hertfordshire Mercury' 

 on the 23rd of September di'ew attention to the early appearance 

 of the starling in large numbers, stating that this " is said to be 

 a clear indication of the early approach of a severe winter." 

 October was a little warmer than usual, November was considerably 

 warmer, it was not until the 8th of December that cold weather 

 set in, and the winter was of about average temperature. 



