588 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



was on October 8th, giving an interval of 167 days, or nearly six months, entirely 

 without frost. The average interval is 154 days. 



The last severe frost of spring was on April 8th; the first severe frost of 

 autumn was on the 23d of October; giving an interval of 198 days, or nearly 

 seven months, without severe frost. The average interval is 199 days. No frost 

 during the year caused damage to crops of grain and fruit. The low temperatures 

 of January were generally destructive to peach buds. 



Rain. — The entire rainfall, including melted snow, was 43.70 inches, which 

 has been but once exceeded on our seventeen years' record (in 1876) and is 9.05, 

 inches above the annual average. Either rain or snow, or both, in measurable 

 quantities, fell on 115 days — eleven more than the average. On nine other days 

 rain or snow fell in quantity too small for measurement. 



There was no approach to a drouth during the year, the longest interval 

 without rain in the growing season being thirteen days, from July 30 to August 12. 



The number of thunder showers was thirty-five. There was but one light 

 hail storm during the year — on May 17th. 



Snow. — The entire depth of snow was 29 inches, which is 8.62 inches above 

 the average. Of this amount twelve inches fell in January, two inches in Feb- 

 ruary, one inch in March, six inches in April, one and a half inches in November, 

 and six and a half inches in December. Snow -fell on twenty-one days. ' The 

 last snow of spring was on April 21st ; the first snow of autumn was on November 

 1 8th — ten days later than the average date. 



Face of the Sky. — The mean cloudiness of the year was 47.56 per cent, 

 which is 3.09 per cent above the average. The number of clear days (less than 

 one-third cloudy) was 146; half clear (from one to two-thirds cloudy) 116; cloudy 

 (more than two-thirds) 104. There were seventy-five days on which the cloudi- 

 ness reached or exceeded 80 per cent. There were thirty-three entirely clear 

 and forty-three entirely cloudy days. The clearest month was October, with a 

 mean of 34. 19 per cent; the cloudiest month was December, mean 66.34 per 

 cent. The percentage of cloudiness at 7 A. M. was 53.89; at 2 P. M., 49.76; 

 at 9 P. M., 39.03. 



Direction of the Wind. — During the year, three observations daily, the 

 wind was from the south-west, 266 times; north-west, 252 times; south-east, 201 

 times; north-east, 197 times; south, 76 times; north 46 times; east 37 times; 

 west 23 times. The south winds (including south-west, south, and south-east), 

 outnumbered the north (including north-west, north, and north-east), in the ratio 

 of 543 to 495. 



Velocity of the Wind. — The number of miles traveled by the wind during 

 the year was 131,188, which is 7,421 miles below the annual average for the 

 eleven preceding years. This gives a mean daily velocity of 358.44 miles and a 

 mean hourly velocity of 14.93 "fiiles. The highest hourly velocity was 75 miles, 



