198 TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



fresh, from north-northwest. The next day the wind changed to the 

 southward, from which quarter it continued to prevail almost con- 

 stantly to the end of the month, accompanied for the most part with, a 

 steady, warm rain. For several days preceding the copious rains, 

 during the latter part of the month, the atmospheric pressure appeared 

 subjected to powerful disturbing influences, the barometric column 

 sinking to the minimum for the month, as stated in the table, on the 

 19th. The weather all the while remaining clear, with high wind 

 from northwest, and a comparatively anhydrous condition of the 

 atmosphere, seemed to conflict with the barometric indications of ap- 

 proaching rain. The heaviest rain of the season commenced falling 

 at noon on the 27th, and continued without interruption until 10 

 p. m. of the 28th, when the barometer rose suddenly one-tenth pf 

 an inch, and the clouds began to break away. The quantity of rain 

 that fell during these twenty-four hours measured 2.10 inches. 



March was noted for the comparative infrequency of high winds 

 and rain-storms. The vernal equinox was attended with no appre- 

 ciable atmospheric disturbance ; the weather remaining mild, equable, 

 and pleasant. The thermometer, however, ranged rather higher than 

 us ual for the season. The deficiency of rain during the winter months 

 was measurably made up by frequent heavy spring showers, which 

 served to melt and bring down the snow from the mountains. On 

 the 15th the Sacramento river, which had remained at a very low 

 stage all the winter, rose to 20 feet 2| inches above low-water mark ; 

 which was within 1 foot 9 inches of the high-water mark of 1st Jan- 

 uary, 1853. During the two last days of the month a steady, warm 

 rain fell, beginning about 8 p. m. of the 29th, and continuing almost 

 without interruption until 9 a. m. of the 31st, when it commenced 

 blowing a gale from the south, with occasional heavy showers. At 

 the same time the barometric column sank to the minimum for the 

 month, but began to rise again before evening, when the gale abated. 

 On the afternoon of the 2fth, at 5 o'clock, a remarkable iridescence, 

 globular in form, and which may be termed a parhelion, was observed 

 at the western termination of a cloud in the southwest, about 45^ 

 above the horizon. The beautiful prismatic tinting of this meteor, 

 which lasted about one or two minutes, was the subject of general ad- 

 miration and newspaper remark. 



In April the weather was very changeable, and more snow fell on 

 the mountains than is recollected to have fallen so late in the season 

 since 1849. The coincidence, remarked last April, of the unusual 

 occurrence of lightning and thunder on the same day of the previous 

 year, was rendered still more remarkable by the recurrence of the 

 same phenomenon on the 14th of this month. The barometric as well 

 as all other changes were sudden and frequent. The minimum re- 

 corded in the table occurred on the 15th, the maximum on the 18th. 

 The maximum of the thermometer was observed on the 8th, the min- 

 imum on the 18th ; after which latter date a varying temperature, 

 with a comparative excess of humidity and southerly winds, predomi- 

 nated. 



The most noticeable feature in May consisted in the recurrence, so 

 infrequent in this region, of electric phenomena on two occasions, (the 



