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METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR THE YEAR 1865. 



The most remarkable Meteorological fact in 1865 was the almost entire 

 absence of rain during the month of September; twenty-eight days were 

 registered fine, and on the other two days "04 of an inch of rain fell, or in 

 plainer figures only ^V of an inch ; the months of April and J une were also very 

 dry, there being twenty-four fine days in the former, and twenty-five in the latter 

 month. The rainfall in April was very much below the average, but not so 

 much in June, as on the two last days of the month there fell i*o7 inches. The 

 month of August was remarkable for its being the wettest, owing principally to 

 the thunderstorms which were so frequent ; October was the next wettest month ; 

 these two months form a striking contrast with September. January and 

 February are noticeable for heav\^ falls of snow. The most remarkable fall we 

 have had for some years commenced on the night of the 25th January, and con- 

 tinued more or less until noon on 27th, when the average depth was taken and 

 found to be loj inches ; in places where it had drifted it was from 8 to 10 feet 

 deep, and it had not disappeared when there was another heavy fall on 16th 

 February, when it averaged 5 inches deep, and continued on the ground till the 

 end of the month. 



There were several thunderstorms worth mentioning ; [the first occurred on 

 May 9th, when -82 of an inch fell in two showers between the hours of 5 and 11 

 a.m. There was another storm on the 6th July, -71 of an inch falling at intervals 

 during the morning ; the next was a hail storm on the gth July, on this occasion 

 J of an inch fell in 12 minutes; there were also two heavy storms on 12th and 

 23rd of August, both falls amounting to f of an inch each. 



The Thermometer was unusually high in April, on the 26th and 27th itrose to 

 72-9 and 72-6 respectively, the mean temperature was 5 degrees above the average. 

 June was the hottest month in the year, on the 22nd the thermometer rose to 

 87-6 ; it was above 80° on six days and above 70° on twenty days. September 

 was almost as remarkable for the height of the temperature as for the extreme 

 dryness ; the thermometer was above 70° on nineteen consecutive days ; on one 

 occasion it rose to 78-0, and once to 77-0, the mean temperature was considerably 

 above the average. 



January was the coldest month ; frost on seventeen nights ; on the 29th the 

 thermometer fell to 3*6, the lowest reading since December, i860. February 

 and March were also two very cold months ; there were fourteen frosts in the 

 former and thirteen in the latter month, the mean temperature in both was 

 was several degrees below the average. 



There were 193 days registered as fine. The rainfall 25'005 inches is, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Lawson, 2 inches below the average. 



