REMARKS. 



"Eight cyclones and six anticyclones influenced the weather for 

 the mouth. Three of the cyclones passed easterly to the north of us, 

 two across our district from west to east ; two moved up our eastern 

 coast well out to sea, and one passed easterly to the south of us then 

 up the seaboard. The low pressure areas predominated. The two 

 storms that passed up the coast were not severe over the greater part 

 of Massachusetts, but on the Cape very high gales prevailed, and 

 considerable damage was done to vessels outside on the ocean. The 

 storm that passed across New England on the 2d, and the one that 

 passed from the Lakes to the south of us and then up the coast on 

 the 5th-6th gave considerable snow. But the last part of the month 

 has been so unusually warm that the snow has all disappeared, the 

 frost is mostly out of the ground, and one sees everywhere farmers 

 working on their land as in the early fall. The two storms that 

 moved northeasterly down the St. Lawrence valley on the night of 

 the 26th-27thand 30th-31st, respectively, increased rapidly in energy, 

 and gave heavy rains and tremendous winds over our entire district. 

 Fences were wrecked, out-buildiugs blown over or unroofed, and 

 windows blown in." (J. Warren Smith, Director N. E. Weather 

 Service.) 



At Amherst too, the storms of the 27th and 31st instants were 

 notable ones. During the former the wind attained a maximum 

 velocity of 69 miles per hour, while the latter if not quite so intense 

 (62 miles per hour) was more prolonged, and fittingly closed a mouth 

 of unusually high record of wind (5506 miles) with the maximum 

 daily movement for the year, — 454 miles. 



The range of barometric activity during the month is also worthy 

 of note, as it gives us a new record for maximum range of barometer 

 for December: — from the very high pressure of 30.55 inches at 10 

 A. M. on the morning of the ITtli instant, to the unusually low pres- 

 sure of 28.77 inches at 5 a. m. during the storm of the 31st instant, 

 a range of 1.78 inches against 1.725, the highest previous December 

 record. 



The mean daily temperature for the month was 32° F., nearl}' two 

 degrees warmer than the average, and the normal temperature con- 

 ditions for the month were quite reversed, the mean daily tempera- 

 ture for the first half of it, from the first to the 18th instants, except- 

 ing the 2d, being below, while the lemainder was considerably above 

 the normal tem|ierature. The marked contrast between these con- 

 ditions is strikingly illustrated by the facts that on December 18th 

 several inches of snow lay on the ground and ice from eight to ten 

 inches thick was cut from the pond at the Massachusetts Agricultural 

 College, while at the close of the month all traces of snow had dis- 

 appeared and the ground was soft and muddy. 



LEONARD METCALF, Acting Meteorologist. 



JAMES L. BARTLETT, Asst. Observer. 



