KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 23 



METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR 188L 



(From observations taken at Lawrence.) 

 BY PROF. F. H. SNOW, OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS. 



The most marked meteorological features of the year were the severe and 

 prolonged winter; the extremely late spring; the excessive and long-con- 

 tinued heat of the summer, extending even into October; the delay of the 

 first severe frost of autumn until nearly the middle of November, resulting 

 in the unseasonable blossoming of many fruit and flowering trees and shrubs; 

 and the unusual warmth and fine weather of December. The total rainfall 

 was nearly equal to the average amount. The rain deficiency in July and 

 August reduced the corn crop to about half the average yield, but the con- 

 sequent high prices have in most cases more than compensated for the reduc- 

 tion. 



TEMPERATURE. 



Mean temperature of the year, 54.65°, which is L31° above the mean of 

 the thirteen preceding years. The highest temperature was 104°, on August 

 11th and 25th; the lowest was 8° below zero, on the 9th of January, giving 

 a yearly range of 112°. Mean at 7 a. m., 48.87°; at 2 p. m , 63.52°; at 9 

 p. M., 53.12°. 



Mean temperature of the winter months, 29.16°, which is 0.92° below the 

 average winter temperature; of the spring, 53.27°, which is 0.74° below the 

 average; of the summer, 79 41°, which is 3.02° above the average; of the 

 autumn, 56.75°, which is 3.86° above the average. 



The coldest month of the year was January, with mean temperature 

 21.60°; the coldest week was January 8th to 14th, with mean temperature 

 14.45°; the coldest day was January 9th, with mean temperature 1.5° below 

 zero. The mercury fell below zero six times during the year — three times 

 in January, and three times in February. 



The warmest month was August, with mean temperature 81.23°; the 

 warmest week was July 5th to 11th, with mean temperature 85.09°; the 

 warmest day was August 17th, with mean temperature 89.7°. The mercury 

 reached or exceeded 100° on fourteen days, of which three were in July and 

 eleven in August; the mercury reached or exceeded 90° on sixty-eight days, 

 viz., nine in June, eighteen in July, twenty-six in August, fourteen in Sep- 

 tember, and one in October. 



The last light frost of spring was on April 15th; the first light frost of 

 autumn was on September 25th, giving an interval of 193 days (more than 

 six months) entirely without frost. The last severe frost of spring was on 

 April 13th; the first severe frost of autumn was on November 9th, giving 

 an interval of 210 days (nearly seven months) without severe frost. No 



