24 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



frost during the year damaged fruit buds or trees, but winter wheat was in- 

 jured in some localities by the severe cold of the first half of April. 



RAIN. 



The entire rainfall, including melted snow, was 33.27 inches, which is 

 slightly above the precipitation of 1879 and 1880, but 1.31 inches below the 

 average rainfall of the thirteen preceding years. Either rain or snow (or 

 both) fell on 110 days — seven more than the average. On nine of these 

 days the quantity was too small for measurement. The longest interval with- 

 out rain during the growing season (March 1st to October 1st) was fourteen 

 days — from July 29th to August 12th. The number of thunder showers 

 was thirty-one. There were three hail storms, of which one occurred in 

 April and two in September. The hail of September 2i^th were very large 

 and destructive. 



SNOW. 



The entire depth of snow was 32.50 inches, which is 12.06 inches above 

 the average. Of this amount, half an inch fell in January, twent3'-two 

 inches in February, one inch in November, and one inch in December. The 

 last snow of spring was on April 12th; the first snow of autumn was on 

 November 18th. 



FACE OF THE SKY. 



The average cloudiness of the year was 47.52 per cent., which is 3.43 per 

 cent, above the average. The number of clear days (less than one-third 

 cloudy) was 157; half-clear days (from one-third to two-thirds cloudy), 95; 

 cloudy (more than two-thirds), 113. There were 79 days on which the 

 cloudiness averaged 80 per cent, or more. There were 37 entirely clear, and 

 55 entirely cloudy days. The clearest month was July, with a mean of 

 26.23 per cent ; the cloudiest month was May, with a mean of 64.08 per cent. 

 The mean cloudiness at 7 a. m., was 52 56 per cent.; at 2 p. m., 50.25 per 

 cent.; at 9 p. m., 39.75 per cent. 



DIRECTION OF THE WIND. 



During the year, three observations daily, the wind was from the N. W. 

 280 times; S. W., 276 times; S. E., 139 times; S., 110 times; N. E., 116 

 times; E.,95times; N., 72 times; W.,6time3; calm, once. The south winds 

 (including southwest, south and southeast) outnumbered the north winds — 

 including northwest, north and northeast — in the ratio of 525 to 468. 



VELOCITY OF THE WIND. 



The number of miles traveled by the wind during the year was 141,430, 

 which is 3,383 miles above the annual average for the eight preceding years. 

 This gives a mean daily velocity of 387.48 miles, and a mean hourly velocity 

 of 16.14 miles. The highest velocity was 60 miles an hour, on February 

 11th and March 31st. The highest daily velocity was 1,010 miles, on March 

 4th; the highest monthly velocity was 16,231 miles, in March. The three 

 windiest months were March, April and November; the three calmest months 



