380 The Weather of 1904. 



six days, and a mean for the month of only 29.491 in. The only 

 months which had means above 30 inches were June, September, 

 and October, and these were, on the whole, the finest months 

 of the year. Cyclones, with their accompanying storms of wind 

 and rain, were most frequent in January, February, and December, 

 and in the first half of April ; but taking the year as a whole, they 

 were less frequent than usual, and there was a preponderance of 

 anti-cyclonic weather. 



We now pass on to temperature, that exceedingly important 

 element in weather conditions — it being understood that the read- 

 ings are all of thermometers kept constantly in the shade and 

 four feet above the grass, in a Stevenson screen. The highest 

 single day temperature of the year occurred on the nth July, 

 when a reading of 84.7 deg. was recorded. But twice also in 

 June there were readings in excess of 80 deg., viz., 80.5 deg., on 

 the 4th, and 81.7 deg. on the 5th. The absolute minimum, or 

 lowest single day temperature of the year, occurred on the 26th 

 November and the nth December, when it was 19.5 deg. This 

 gives an annual range of 65.2 deg. The warmest month of the 

 year was July, with a mean of 60.7 deg., and the next warmest, 

 August, with a mean of 58.1 deg. The coldest month was 

 February, with a mean of 37.1 deg., and the next coldest 

 December, with a mean of 37.6 deg. January, March, April, 

 July, and October had monthly means slightly above the average, 

 and the others means slightly below ; but when the excesses and 

 deficiencies were compared they were found almost exactly to 

 balance one another, the former amounting to 7.2 deg. and the 

 latter to 6.8 deg., so that we are prepared to find that the mean 

 temperature of the year is just about average. It comes out at 

 47.6 deg., which is as nearly as possible the mean of the last 

 •eighteen years. It has been as low as 46 deg., and as high as 

 49 deg. But the exact mean is 47.7 deg. On the 

 whole the season was exceptionally favourable to vegeta- 

 tion. But this was not due to any excess of warmth, 

 as is shown by the fact that the mean annual temperature, as we 

 have just seen, was barely up to average, although there was a 

 fair number of really warm days, with temperatures ranging from 

 70 deg. to 84 deg. But the explanation is rather to be found 

 in the distribution of the successive periods of moderate rainfall 

 and dry sunny weather, which was such as to promote in a re- 



