691 



ENGLAND. 



V..- !!.-. 



Quantity of 

 nin in the 



In the north 



part. 



Nnrthe 

 Metropolis. 



mit*. 



1793. rain or snow fell on 233 days, and the quantity 

 of rain amounted to .<>.'> inches. 



The midl.tnd counties in England receive, as might 

 be expected, nearly the medium quantity of rain that 

 falls on the western and eastern coasta ; or rather, |>er- 

 haps, the quantity that falls in them approaches nearer 

 to the quantity that falls on the eastern than the we 

 tern coast. Even in Derbyshire, though a mountain- 

 ous district, much less rain falls than in Lancashire, or 

 i-icn Staffordshire or Shropshire, as will be evident 

 from the following result, from a state of the falls of 

 rain at Cbatiworth, in Dcrl'V.-hire. for the years 1777, 

 1779, 1780, KM. IT'S-', and ITS:;.' The ave- 

 rage for the annual falUof the*c -even years, is 27,339 

 inchi-s: the average falls in each month, classed ac- 

 c-rdinir to the seasons, is as follows: In February, 

 inches; in March, l,^(i<); in April, '_'.7J. r > mean 

 fall in spring, .3.667. in the month of May, -'. 

 in June. J.<)H; in July, 2.73-1 mean fall" in sum- 

 mer, 6-963: in Au^u-t, 'j.o :: .; ; in September, 

 3.173 ; in October, 3,288 : mean fall in autumn, 

 8.9-14: in November, 2.183; in December, 2.17."-: 

 in January, 1.8.53 mean fall in winter, 6.211. From 

 this account, it will be seen, that in this part of 

 Derbyshire, at least, more rain falls in the autumn 

 quarter than in any other quarter of the year, and less 

 in the spring quarter; while the rain that falls in the 

 summer and winter quarters, is nearly equal in quan- 

 tity. By referring back to the account which has been 

 given of the mean fall of rains at Liverpool for each 

 season, it will be found that the same is the case there. 

 This remark, as far as it applies to Derbyshire, is con- 

 firmed by the result of an account of the quantity of 

 rain that fell at Chatsworth during a subsequent period 

 of seven years, commencing with the year 1 784 ; the 

 average for the whole period of 14 years, during each 

 season of the year, being as follows : Spring, 4.959 ; 

 summer, 7.."H7 ; autumn, 8.181; and winter, 6.686. 

 It has also been remarked, that as we proceed north- 

 ward, along the western coast, the quantity of rain 

 which falls annually increases. Thus, the mean annual 

 quantity of rain which falls in Liverpool, has been as- 

 certained to be 34.41 inches ; whereas, at Lancaster, 

 from an account of the rain that fell there, during the 

 years 1784, 1785, 1786, 1787, 1788, 1789, and 1790, 

 kept by Dr Campbell, it appears that the mean annual 

 fall amounts to 40.3 inches. At this place, also, the 

 greatest quantity of rain falls during the autumn months, 

 or more strictly speaking, during the months of July. 

 August, and September ; which circumstance, when 

 we come to the consideration of the most prevalent 

 winds in different parts of the kingdom, will be satis- 

 factorily accounted for. 



The counties in the vicinity of the metropolis are 

 subject to comparatively trifling falls of rain. There 

 are not data sufficiently accurate, and the result of ob- 

 servations continued for a sufficient length of time, to 

 prove this so decisively as could be wished ; but the fol. 

 lowing details of the annual quantity of rain at Youngs- 

 bury, near Ware, in Hertfordshire, 20 miles from Lon- 

 don, which fell during five years, may be admitted as 

 sufficient evidence, at least as respects that county; and 

 the inference is fair, that unless there are local pecu- 

 liarities in the adjoining counties, the quantity of rain 

 will be ascertained to be nearly similar. In 1787, there 

 fell 23.664 inches ; in 1788, 17.676 inches; in 1788, 

 29.493 ; in 1790, 22.970 ; and in 1791, 24.200. 



From these details, a tolerably accurate idea of this 

 branch of the meteorology of England may be formed. 

 In those parts of the north-western counties, which lie 



nmnng the mountains, the greatest quantity of ruin 

 falls, as about Kendal. where the annual -> "^ "Y*** 



upwards of (>0 inches ; and even where the situation i- 

 not mountainous, the north-western counties are < 

 sed to great falls of ruin ; as we advance on this siJi 

 of England to the south, the quantity of rain dimi- 

 nishes, though it is pi-iiU-iMc. that in the mountainous 

 parts oi \Vale-f. and in the |K'iiiu-ula of Cornwall, and 

 the west of Devonshire, this observation will by no 

 means hold good. In the north-eastern counties of 

 England more rain falls than in the south-eastern : hut 

 much less than in the north-western counties. Per- 

 haps the county in which the least quantitv of rain 

 falls is Norfolk. From the account already given "t 

 the quantity of rain at Dover, it would appear to be 

 very large ; but the account was kept for too short 

 period to justify any positive and general inference. 



With respect to the seasons of the year, when the 

 greatest quantity of rain falls in different parts of the 

 kingdom, it would seem that in the western counties, 

 the autumn months, or rather the months of July, Au- 

 uust, September, and October, are most exposed to 

 rain ; whereas on the eastern side of the kingdom, the 

 winter months, that is, November, December, ajid Ja- 

 nuary, are the wettest. From the greater prevalence 

 of east winds, during the spring, on the east coa-t than 

 on the west coast, it often happens, that at this season 

 the eastern counties have heavier falls of rain than the 

 western counties are liable to. 



There are certainly not sufficient data on which to Average 

 ground any statement of the annual average quantity quantity in 

 of rain that falls in England at large. Dr Halley England. 

 supposes it to be 22 inches ; but this is evidently 

 very greatly below the average. Mr Dalton, with much 

 greater probability, fixes it at 31.3 inches. This re- 

 sult is drawn from what Mr Dalton conceives to be 

 the largest collection of accounts of rain fallen in dif- 

 ferent places in England, that had appeared previ- 

 ously to the publication of his paper on the subject, in 

 the Manchester Transactions for 1798. The average 

 of these accounts is indeed 35.2 inches ; but as the de- 

 tails contain no account of rain in Wales, though they 

 contain an account of the rain in a much greater pro- 

 portion of maritime than inland counties, and as it may 

 be presumed, that the rain in Wales would exceed the 

 mean given, as much as the inland counties, not con- 

 tained in the list, from which he drew his mean, would 

 fall short of it, he concludes, that in stating the ave- 

 rage of England and Wales to be 31.3, he approximates 

 as nearly as possible to the truth. 



In order that the relative quantity of rain, which falls Tabular 

 in the inland and maritime counties of England, may compari- 

 be more clearly and satisfactorily ascertained and com- f n of n 

 pared, the following tabular view is subjoined, with the in 

 number of years annexed to each place, during which 

 the observations were made : 



Mean an- 

 Countics Maritime. Places. nual depth. 



Cumberland, . . . Kcswick, 7 years, 67-5 



Carlisle, 1 year, 20.2 



Westmoreland, . . Kendal, 1 1 years, 59.8 



Fellfoot, 3 years, 55.7 



Waith Sutton, 5 years, ... 46 



Lancashire, .... Lancaster, 10 years, .... 45 



Liverpool, 1 8 years, .... 34.4 



.Manchester, !( years, .... 33 



Townley, 15 years, 41 



Crawshawbooth, near Has- 7 /-Q 



lingden, 2 years, . . . J 

 Dalton, 1 year, 49 



. 

 and inland 



