202 TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



light shower of rain. From this date to the 24th there were only two 

 days entirely clear, thirteen cloudy and rainy, and two foggy days. 

 The quantity of rain which fell in the aggregate during this interval 

 amounted to 0.6'72 inch. 



Notwithstanding this long continuance of unsettled weather which 

 prevailed generally throughout the interior of the State, the atmo- 

 gpheric pressure at the same period manifested no unusual disturbance 

 — the barometer never falling below 30 inches, and, indeed, reading 

 as low as that point only twice, and for a short time : once on the 

 6th, when it snowed, and again when the sun entered Capricornus. 

 In the table of hourly observations at this latter period will be noted 

 the gradually j^rogressive rise and fall of both barometer and ther- 

 mometer during the twenty-four hours. At 9 a, m. the temperature 

 was three degrees lower than at 4 a. m. , while the atmospheric pressure 

 was .03 of an inch, increased by the veering of the wind to the west- 

 ward. At 10 a. m. the sky appeared almost entirely clear^ but by 

 3 p. m. it became almost entirely cloudy, although the wind had in- 

 creased in force from the west. At 10 p. m. a large halo of the moon 

 was observed, consisting of a single luminous circle of about 45° 

 diameter ; and again at 2 p. m., when the sky had become almost 

 entirely cloudless, a corona of three faint concentric rings, apparently 

 about 5° in diameter, encircled the moon. Notwithstanding these 

 indications of the surcharge of the upper regions of the atmosphere 

 with humidity, the wind freshened up from northwest in the afternoon, 

 and by 9 p. m. the sky was entirely clear. Before morning the ther- 

 mometer fell to the extraordinary minimum of 25°, and the barome- 

 ter rose to 30.08 inches. On the succeeding day the sky was entirely 

 overcast, and although the lower current of air continued fresh from 

 northwest, the rising of the barometer from 30 to 30.12 inches, under 

 such circumstances, indicated some unusual pressure of the atmo- 

 sphere. As the sequence demonstrated, this barometric oscillation 

 was attributable to the marginal accumulation of air around the 

 storm, which was heralded on the morning of the 26th by an unpre- 

 cedented fall of snow, the lower current of air still prevailing light 

 from the north. Simultaneously a rapid diminution of atmospheric 

 pressure was manifested, and by 10 p. m. it was blowing a gale from 

 southeast, the rain, Avhich had been falling all day, now coming with 

 gusts, from low clouds driven before it. At 7 a. m. on the 27th, 

 when the storm had reached its terminal point in this quarter, the 

 barometer sank to its minimum, 29.78 inches, and the thermometer 

 read 49°. At 9 p. m. following, the barometer had attained its or- 

 dinary altitude of 30 inches, and the temperature was six degrees 

 less than at the sunrise observation, while the sky was almost en- 

 tirely clear, with the breeze fresh from northwest. The snow-storm 

 lasted from 6 to 10 a. m., and the quantity that fell amounted to 0.016 

 inch when melted and measured by the rain-gage. The aggregate of 

 melted snow and rain which fell from 6 a. m. of the 26th to 10 a. m. 

 of the 27th, measured 0.725 inch. The effect of the rains thus far 

 ' upon the river was to raise it about 30 inches above low- water mark. 

 Accounts from the interior represent the fall of snow as very great, 



