^o. 4] MASSACHUSETTS WEATHER. xxvii 



absence of extremes in both. Sonic (juite warm weather was 

 experienced in interior sections, and on the coast tlierew^ere 

 several days of mnggy, oppressive weatlier, though the maxi- 

 mum temperature was under 90°. Viewed as a wliole, July 

 was a very pleasant month. 



August opened with several days of warm, showery 

 weather, with mugg}", oppressive atmospheric conditions. 

 A week of cool weather, with scattered showers, followed. 

 During the remainder of the month the weather was marked 

 by periods of a few warm days, alternating with like periods 

 of cool weather, with the mercury considerably below the 

 average. The outcome was a monthly mean considerably 

 below the normal. The precipitation was below the average 

 from 20 to 30 per cent, but was quite equably distributed, 

 so that there Avas little complaint of drought. Local storms 

 were less frequent and violent than usual during August. 

 The weather was very pleasant, with a notable deficiency of 

 hot, humid days frequently characteristic of August. 



September will go on record as a month of unusually few 

 rainy days, with al)undant sunshine, but with a heavy total 

 rainfall. During the first decade there was very little rain, 

 but on the 14th and 15th a downpour that has been but sel- 

 dom equalled, with almost an entire al)sence of rain during 

 the remainder of the month. The temperature records also 

 show pronounced extremes. The maxima ranged in the cSOs 

 on a number of days, witli muggy, oppressive temperature, 

 and on the 22d and 2od drop[)ed suddenly to points ranging 

 from slightly above freezing in some sections to several de- 

 grees below in others. The monthly mean temperature did 

 not depart greatly from the normal. Notwithstanding these 

 unusual conditions, September, considered as a whole, was 

 a pleasant month. 



The first week of October was generally pleasant, with 

 abundant sunshine. A week of overcast weather followed, 

 during which more or less rain fell in about all sections. 

 Fair weather, mostly Avith clear skies, again obtained, and 

 continued through the 18th, followed by a widespread 

 storm of nuich intensity on the 20th and 21st. During this 

 storm the winds along the coast atfjiined hurricane force, 

 and caused considerable loss of life and of shipping, and 



