ae = a ee a ee ee 329 
¥ 7 J =” di — ba . 4 
» The average annual amount of rain is by these observations 
34.635 inches; yet this period includes an extraordinary drought 
in the autumn of 1838.. It is presumed that the mean of a long 
series of years would be about 36 inches. This is the average 
for the State of New York according to the Regents’ Reports. 
The average amount at Hanover for four years is 38.05 inches ; 
so that with a much less degree of cloudiness, it has a greater 
amount of rain than Hudson. The amount of rain here is great- 
est in summer and least in winter, being in the inverse ratio of 
the degree of cloudiness; and what is still more remarkable, in 
December, which is eenentiont cloudy as well as most humid 
Month of the year, the fall of rain is the least. The stratus 
cloud then which prevails in winter throughout all the Lake coun- 
try, must evidently have a peculiar origin. I ascribe it to the 
evaporation from the Lakes. During the winter season, and espe- 
cially. ee een these ‘vast:collections of water are 
the aaa 
icvitgdiiadiobetly do ensed, forming 
nenraerenns eater yaniv reveitnnee are 
which I have already alluded (p. 325), : 
here uninterruptedly or mi dence s:- with: the thermometer about 
30°, and during the entire re will | not now 
to whiten the ground. It app n ain falls in th 
day than in the night. The he observation at 9A. M. includes the 
rain of eighteen hours, and that at 3 P. M. of six. The for- 
mer then should be three times the latter, which is not the case 
xcept in winter, which period Lexclude fromthe comparison, 
because the precipitation being mostly snow, which cannot be 
collected in a gauge, Iam accustomed at the conclusion of each 
aa storm to collect what. Appeers. to me to be the average depth 
f snow and. melt it. is most frequently per- 
ed in the siorninn, ac Rance excess of rain at. 9A, M. 
in the winter. During the rest of the year, however, and espe- 
cially in summer, there is a-considerable excess in favor of 3 P.M. 
If the observations had been made at 6 A. M. and P. M. they 
Would have better exhibited the ratio for the two periods. The 
2, a8 during summer, the 
amount is one half of that from 
3P. M.to 9A. M me ee 
Vol. xt1, No. ee a bie ae 
