SOUTHERLY BURSTERS. 41 



was heavy and some of the stones were very large. This storm 

 lasted on the north coast until 7 p.m., and was also very severe 

 in the northern highlands. It was accompanied by a rainfall of 

 from one to three inches. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE DOUBLE BURSTER. 



The notes taken of this burster the second of the season are 

 as follows : During the 7th, 8th and 9th October the barometers 

 all over the continent showed little or no grade. The centres of 

 the high pressures were situated, one over the Tasman Sea, and 

 the other off the west coast of West Australia, with a shallow 

 trough of low pressure between. On the 10th the western high 

 pressure had intensified and had made much progress, compressing 

 the low pressure into a sharp \, with its axis lying in a north- 

 west and south-east direction, or from Bourke to a little east of 

 Gabo. Strong north to north-west winds were experienced on 

 the western borders of Queensland and in New South Wales 

 north-east, while exceptionally hot weather was reported from the 

 Queensland inland stations. In Sydney, for three days previous 

 to the arrival of the burster, the sky was hazy and almost tropical 

 in its aspect. The barometer at Sydney fell three-tenths during 

 the twenty-four hours immediately preceding the burst, and rose 

 rather sharply after it had passed, the lowest point making half- 

 an-inch in twenty-four hours. The temperature was moderate 

 immediately before the change, the thermometer stood at 75, and 

 at 2 p.m., rather less than one hour after, it had fallen to 65. 

 A roll of cumulus cloud of a rather undefined character was first 

 seen at 12-30 p.m., with a line of ragged cirrus beneath. The 

 latter, as the storm advanced, rose in front of and obscured the 

 cumulus. Five minutes later, cirrus were moving horizontally, 

 vertically, and in every other direction from a point in the cloud 

 lying due south. The change of wind at Sydney came at 1 p.m., 

 and was attended by much dust, and some rain which was entirely 

 owing to electrical influences, it was generally light from the 

 western slopes to the coast. 



