CLIMATE. 5 
in a single day during fifty years occurred on the 11th of October, 
1865, when 2°87 inches of rain fell in the twenty-four hours. The 
two longest durations of absolute drought, or periods without any 
rain at all, occurred in 1869 and in 1893; in the former year it 
lasted from June 21st to July 25th inclusive, and in 1893 from 
March 18th to April 21st, in both cases, curiously enough, a similar 
period of thirty-five days. The average reading of the barometer, 
corrected and reduced to 32° at mean sea-level, is 29°956, with a 
mean range for the whole year of 1045. 
The mean annual temperature of the air in the shade is 50°6°, 
divided among the four quarters of the year as follows :— 
March, April, May Ne , paces. 
June, July, August 5 ait ees o O 
September, October, November .. AE Ae ok 
December, January, February... ee ae a 
One of the most favourable peculiarities of this climate is the 
continuance of a mild autumn temperature to a very late period of 
the year. Asarule, the temperature of July and August continues 
with little change into September and October, the summer and 
autumn differing but slightly, and the latter extending into the 
months which in England are regarded as mid-winter. It may 
almost be said, therefore, that winter as a season is absent alto- 
gether ; but, on the other hand, the spring is cold and late, and 
easterly winds prevail. The mean daily range of the thermometer 
in Guernsey is only 8°8°, a quantity so small as to be quite excep- 
tional in northern latitudes ; and it is this uniformity which imparts 
to the climate of this and the other islands its peculiar feature, 
namely, that of equability. 
Although the rainfall is considerable, though actually less than 
in the extreme south-west of England, the climate of Guernsey is 
certainly not unpleasant from excessive humidity. Even during the 
wettest months of the year a continuance of more than twelve hours’ 
rain is very rare; indeed, it seldom happens that a wet morning is 
not succeeded by a fine evening. Except during unusually severe 
winters snow rarely falls, and generally disappears in the course of a 
day or two. Hail is much more frequent, and a smart hail-shower 
during the summer months is by no means an uncommon occurrence. 
Severe frosts are exceptional, and seldom prolonged, so that skating 
is practically unknown. 
The Channel Islands may justly rank among the sunniest places 
in the kingdom; it is quite an unusual experience to be two whole 
days without seeing the sun or the clear sky. Mr. Collenette’s 
records for Guernsey show that in 1896 there was a period of 146 
days in succession without a sunless one, viz., from April 3rd to 
August 18th; but even this long period had been exceeded the 
previous year, when not a single sunless day was registered between. 
