376 Meteorology of Whitehaven. 



Remarks on the year 1847. 



January/. — A fine, dry month, but with little sun, and a stagnant at- 

 mosphere. Mean temperature 2°'02 under the average. 



February. — Similar to January, Mean temperature 2°'7l under the 

 average. The complement of the dew-point is 2^"31 above the mean, 

 shewing a very dry state of the atmosphere for the season. The evapo- 

 ration, and also the rain, are both below an average quantity. 



On the night of the 4th, the radiation was 21°, being the greatest I 

 have recorded ; the night was not particularly clear, but very calm. 



On the night between the 11th and 12th, the thermometer at Green- 

 wich fell to 6°, or 18°' 5 below the minimum at Whitehaven. At 3 p. m. 

 on the 7th, the dew-point had fallen 8^ since morning, and 26° in the 

 preceding twenty-four hours. 



March. — A dull but dry month, and free from the piercing winds which 

 usually characterise it. The sun has been very sparing of his beams, 

 and a perfectly clear day or night has long been a rarity. Mean tempe- 

 rature 1°'S0 above the average. The air has been unusually dry, the 

 complement of the dew-point being 2°'7l above the mean of the five pre- 

 vious years. The evaporation is the same as the average, and it exceeds 

 the fall of rain by 0"45 inch. 



The average quantity of rain during the first quarter of the year (Jan. 

 to March) is 11-79 inches; but the fall in that period of 1847 only 

 amounts to 5'07 inches. Notwithstanding the deficiency of rain, we have 

 had little sun, and the sky has been generally overcast during the nights, 

 and most unfavourable for astronomical observations. The mean tempe- 

 rature of the quarter ending March 31 is 0°'97 under the average of ten 

 years. The mortality in this town is 100 per cent., and for the whole 

 Union it is 97 per cent, above the average of the corresponding quarter 

 in the previous eight years. According to the Registrar-General's re- 

 port, the deaths throughout England are 6035 above the corrected ave- 

 rage for the quarter. 



April The coldest April in the last fourteen years, except in 1837 



and 1838 ; the mean temperature is 2°"87 under the average. 



On the 1st April, at Liverpool, heavy snow fell from 1 a.m. to 8 p.m., 

 and, though much melted as it fell, the ground was covered to the depth 

 of four inches, and on the roofs of the houses it was eight inches deep. 

 So dark and gloomy was the atmosphere, that artificial light was rendered 

 necessary at mid-day. At Whitehaven we had some snow in the morn- 

 ing, amounting to '035 inch, but it did not lie at all upon the ground ; 

 the afternoon and evening were fine and sunny. 



Liverpool is frequently visited with heavy falls of snow, when we have 

 little or none as this place. Indeed, Whitehaven seems to be singularly 

 exempted from snow-storms, particularly of late years. 



May. — The month of May, usually the driest of the twelve, has, this 

 year, been damp aad wet ; the mean quantity of rain is 1'82 inch ; but 

 in May 1847, the fall is 3-42 inches, or about an inch and a half above 

 the average. The mean temperature is 0^'48 above the average, and the 

 mean complement of the dew-point is 1°'66 below the mean ; and in con- 

 sequence of the unusual dampness of the air, the evaporation is also be- 

 low the average quantity by 1'38 inch. 



