The Meteorology of 1898. 47 



1. Barometer. — The highest reading- of the barometer 

 occurred on 15tli Janiiarj-, when it rose to 30-562 inches. The 

 lowest reading was on the 11th May, when it fell to 28-825 in., 

 thus giving- an annual range of 1-737 in. The mean barometrical 

 pressure for the year was 29-911 in., which is higher than the 

 average of the last 12 years by rather more than one-tenth of an 

 inch (reduced to 32 deg. and sea level). The months in which 

 the mean pressure was highest, exceeding 30 inches, were 

 January, 30-157 in., July, 3n-188 in., and September, 30025 in., 

 and these months were all remarkable for fine settled weather, 

 with temperature above (except in the case of July) and rainfall 

 under average, the details of which will be noticed afterwards. 

 The lowest monthly means were those of February, October, 

 November, and December, ranging from 29-804 in. in February to 

 29-G95 in. in December. It was in the last two mouths, and also 

 in May, that readings below 29 mches occurred, twice in Novem- 

 ber, on the 24th and 25th, and once in December, on the 27th. 

 In May there were two days on which readings below 29 in. 

 were registered, viz., the 11th and 12th. The lowest of these 

 was 28-825 in. on the 11th of May. The depression in November 

 was accompanied by a severe easterly storm, by which much 

 damage was done both by sea and land, especially on the east 

 coasts. In the other instances the storm was south-westerly. 



2. Temperature (in shade, 4 feet above grass). — The 

 highest absolute temperature of the year was recorded on the 4th 

 September, when the thermometer rose to 82-8 deg. Its occur- 

 rence in September was an unusual circumstance. The highest 

 single day temperatures occur most frequently in the latter part 

 of June, about or soon after the summer solstice, sometimes in 

 July, hardly ever in August; and on looking over my past record 

 I find that this is the only year out of the twelve that it has been 

 registered in September. But it occurred once also in May, which 

 is equally exceptional. The other months in which temperatures 

 exceeding 80 deg. were registered were 81-3 deg. on 12th August 

 and 80-3 deg. on the 21st; and it is worthy of note that there 

 were three in September on successive days, from the 4th to the 

 6th, ranging from 81-3 deg-. to 82-8 deg. The lowest tempera- 

 ture of 1898 occurred on the last day of the year, viz., 20 deg. on 

 31st December, showing an annual range of 62-8 deg. With 



