222 J. HOPKINSON — METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



than tho moan of the month. The mean from the 1st to the 5th 

 was 39°-8, about the averap^e for the time of the year; from the 

 6th to the 2;3th, 28°-3, a long period of excessively cold -weather, 

 during which the maximum temperature reached was only 38°'5 

 (on the 19th); from the 26th to the 29th, 39°-6, again a])out the 

 average for December; and on the 30th and 31st, 52"-2. Until the 

 26th the maximum never reached 44°. The minimum rose from 

 12°-2, 15°-1, and 8°-8, on the 23rd, 24th, and 25th, respectively, to 

 28°-0 on the 26th, 40°-0 on the 27th, and on the 31st 49°-3 ; the 

 maximum from 31°-5, 30° 5, and 31°-0, on the 23rd, 24th, and 25th, 

 to 45°-5 on tlie 26th and 54°-7 on the 30th; and the 9 a.m. temper- 

 ature from 27°0, 22°-5, and 28°-8. on tho 23rd, 24th, and 25th, to 

 41°-0, 42°-5, and 53°-3, on the 26th, 27th, and 30th! The few 

 days before the thaw, which commenced on the morning of the 

 26th, were thus remarkably cold, while after the thaw the weather 

 was unusually warm for the time of the year. The minimum 

 sank to below 32° on twenty-two days, to below 25° on eleven, to 

 below 20° on five, and to below 12° on two. 



The prevailing direction of the wind was northerly, inclining to 

 "W., to the 12tli, N.E. the next two days, generally westerly to the 

 24th, E. on the 25th, and from then to the end of the year south- 

 westerly. 



Eain fell on the 1st, and every day from the 26th to the end of 

 the month. Between these dates snow only fell, the total amount 

 of which, on the ten days on which it fell, nearly equalled the 

 total amount of rain. Snow laid on the ground from the first fall 

 on the 5th, until and for a day or two after the thaw on the 26th. 



There were hoar frosts on the mornings of the 9th to the 14th ; 

 the mornings of the 16th, 27th, and 28th were foggy; and the 

 year closed with a heavy gale of wind which lasted from the night 

 of the 29th to the morning of the 31st. 



