10 



intense heat, caused an unusually sharp though not unusually 

 severe drought. The greatest damage was probably done to 

 potatoes, although grain, garden truck, pastures and newly- 

 mowed fields suftered to considerable extent. The drought 

 ended with heavy thunder-storms on the 28th and 2yth in 

 the central and western sections, and a heavy north-east rain 

 on the 31st. This last rain was lightest alono; the south-east 

 coast, and the total fall for the month there was considerably 

 below the average, but over the central and western districts 

 it was al)ove. At Gilbertville 1.51 inches of rain fell on the 

 28th, 1.23 on the 29th and 1.20 on the 31st, making a total 

 of 3.94 inches for the last four days of the month. The 

 storm of the 28th was unusually heavy in this section of 

 Massachusetts ; near Princeton Centre a woman was killed 

 by lightning ; at Fiskdale at 4.15 p.m. a shower from the 

 north met one from the south and 1.58 inches of rain fell in 

 twenty minutes, overflowing gutters and streets ; it was 

 accompanied by high winds, doing considerable damage to 

 crops. Half an hour later another shower gave 0.23 inch, 

 and still later 0.33 inch more fell, making a total of 2.14 

 inches inside of six hours. 



August Weather. 



We compile the following from the records at the Boston 

 station of the Weather Bureau for twenty-one years : the 

 mean or normal temperature is 68°. The warmest August 

 was that of 1872, with au average of 72°, and the coldest 

 that of 1889 with an average of 67°. The highest tem})era- 

 ture during any August was 97° on the 31st in 1881, and 

 the lowest 74° on the 16th and 17th in 1880 and 1885. 



The average precipitation is 4.44 inches, and the average 

 number of rainy days 10. The greatest amount of precipita- 

 tion for any August was 10.68 in 1872, and the least 0.39 in 

 1883. The greatest amount of rain recorded in any twenty- 

 four consecutive hours was 4.99 inches on the 18th and 19th 

 in 1879. The average number of cloudless days is 11 ; 

 partly cloudy days, 12, and cloudy days, 8. 



