ABNORMAL VARIATIONS AT TORONTO. 109 



ON THE ABNORMAL VARIATIONS OF SOME OF THE 

 METEOROLOGICAL ELEMENTS AT TORONTO AND 

 THEIR RELATIONS TO THE DIRECTION OF THE 

 WIND. 



BY G. T. KINGSTON, M.A. 



PIEECTOK OF THE PEOVINCIAL MAGNETIC OBSEEVATOEY, TOEOBTTO. 



The climate of a locality with respect to any one oi its raeteorological 

 elements is characterized principally by the mean annual value of that 

 element, and its annual and diurnal periodic variations, including 

 implicitly a statement of its normal values for each hour of every day 

 throughout the year 



Now the observed value of an element, it is well known, is not 

 generally identical with the normal proper to the epoch of observation, 

 but continues above or below it for hours, and often for days, making 

 digressions that are variable both in amplitude and duration. 



One object of the present article is to ascertain the average extent 

 of the abnormal variations, (as they are here called for want of another 

 term,) or the digressions of the observed values of certain meteoro- 

 logical elements above or below the normals proper to the epochs of 

 obsei'vation, and to exhibit such relations as may be found to subsist 

 between these abnormal variations and the season of the year, the 

 hour of the day, and the direction oi the wind. 



Another object of enquiry relates to the rapidity with which any 

 element passes from one abnormal condition to another, and the 

 dependence of this rate of change on the season, the hour, and the 

 direction of the wind. To carry out this enquiry completely would 

 involve the computation of the differences between the abnormal 

 variations at consecutive hours throughout the series, and their arrange- 

 ment in tables according to the season, the hour, and the wind that 

 prevailed during the intervals between each hour. 



The less laborious process to which recoui'se has been had, and 

 which, though less accurate than the one above indicated, is sufficient 

 for the approximate results at present sought, consists in employing for 

 discussion the differences at like hours on consecutive days, between 

 the abnormal variations, in the case of the temperature, and between 

 the observed values, in that of the other elements. The differences 

 between the observed values of an element at like hours of consecutive 



