268 The Weather of 1902. 



been flooded with sea water to the depth of six or seven feet, with 

 serious loss both to crops and stock, while numbers of trees were 

 blown down and no small damage done to buildings. In the 

 middle of December there was a repetition of the south-westerly 

 storm, with an extraordinary heavy rainfall, the heaviest of the 

 vear — the concurrence of which with a very high spring tide, as 

 in September, occasioned heavy flooding of the river hanks and 

 adjoining fields. The amount of rain that fell on the 14th and 

 15th was about two inches, and the result, as evidenced by the 

 guage on the Xew Bridge, was to give the river a mean depth 

 of twelve feet, a depth which, as far as my observation goes, it 

 has never exceeded. 



Temperature in shade (four feet above grass). — On the 

 whole there was a considerable deficiency both of sunshine and 

 heat during 1902. The absolute maximum, or highest single 

 day temperature of the year, was 86 deg., on the 27th of June. 

 On the 25th and 28th of the same month readings of 83 deg. 

 and 83.8 deg. were recorded. But these were the only days in 

 the whole year on which the thermometer rose to or above 80 

 deg. The maximum in July was only 75 deg., and in August 

 76 deg. The absolute minimum for the year was 6 deg. on 

 the nth of February, and the annual range of temperature thus 

 comes out at 80 deg. Although June had the highest single 

 day temperature, the highest monthly mean was, as usual, in 

 July, which had a mean of 57.6 deg., as compared with 56.3 

 deg. in June, and that of August also was slightly higher than 

 that of June, although only by one-tenth of a degree. It 

 must be observed, however, that the mean temperature of all 

 these summer months was decidedly below average — June by 

 1.6 deg., July by about 2 deg., and August by a little more than 

 2 deg. — and when the mean maximum temperatures are com- 

 pared the deficiency comes out as much more considerable. 

 Thus the mean maximum temperature for June, on an average 

 of fifteen vears, is 67.4 deg., and last year it was only 64.4 deg., 

 which is three degrees less; the mean maximum for July is 68.2 

 deg., last year it was 64.4 deg., which is nearly four degrees 

 less; August is 67 deg., last year it was 64.4 deg., from two to 

 three degrees less. This means that there was a more than 

 usual deficiency of sunshine and summer warmth during these 

 months. The coldest month of the year was February, which 



