JANUARY WEATHER, 1878, AT NEW 

 NORFOLK, TASMANIA. 



The year commenced with thick easterly weather and soft 

 rain, '11 inch, falling on the morning of the 1st, but the 

 prospect of moist weather was soon dispelled, and before the 

 first week was over it had set in dry and hot, the humidity of 

 the air on 6th being down to "30 percent., with a mild hot 

 wind and high barometer; and there were extensive bush 

 fires on the hills around that continued burning during the 

 whole month. On the 9th the temperature in shade was 95-, 

 and the humidity at 4 "30 p.m. was again down to '30 per 

 cent. 



On the 13th, cool S.W. set in, and on 15th there were slight 

 stormy showers that cooled the air, and cleared the smoke 

 away, although only 0-2 inch of rain fell. Owing to the dry 

 clearness of the air and S.W. wind, it was quite cold for a 

 day or two, till, on morning of 17th, there was a white frost, 

 the self -registering thermometers showing 28' on the grass, 

 and 35' in the shade. 



On 19th it was again stormy, cold, and threatening, and 

 although only "08 inch of rain fell here, yet there must have 

 been more on the hills to the W. , as the River Styx rose over 

 2ft. on night of 20th. Sea breezes set in again on 21st, and 

 brought up on 22nd thick clouds and cool weather, but no 

 rain, only hot smoky haze from the bush fires. A clear W. 

 wind set it at 3 p.m. on the 23rd, and next morning there was 

 a slight frost, the thermometer on grass being down to 31'. 

 Sea breezes and hot smoky haze prevailed till 26th, when, 

 after a threatened thunderstorm that did not come here, the 

 wind changed on 27th to W. and S.W., but it only seemed to 

 give the fires a fresh start, and there was hot hazy weather till 

 30th, when N.W. clouds threatened rain, but it still kept 

 hot and dry, tUl 31st closed the hottest and driest month 

 registered here for the last five years, there being only '21 

 inch of rain for the month to 1 "Ol inches in January, 1877 ; 

 166 inches in 1876 ; 1'57 inches in 1875; and 125 inches in 

 1874. The spontaneous evaporation was 9 '49 inches, and the 

 mean humidity of air '60 per cent. The mean of max. and 

 min. in shade was 63*96 to 60 04 last January, and solar 

 intensity 137-67 to 129-83. 



W. K. SHOOBRIDGE, Bushy Park. 



4th February, 1878. 



