396 BIETEOSOLOGICAL REPOKT, 1S69, 



Durham, and wiaicli was marked by a very violent and sudden 

 gust of wind from S.W. at 2.30 p.m. 



Barometer — Mean height at 8 a.m., 29"969 ; highest, 30*576 

 on the 29th ; lowest, 29-074 on the 16th. 



Thermometer — Mean, 47'98°; mean of fourteen years, 46 '02°; 

 excess of 1869, 1-96°; highest, 76° on the 12th and 14th; low- 

 est, 29° on the 1st. Mean of wet bulb, 40-60°; of dry bulb, 43-13°. 



Rainfall — 2-07 inches ; greatest on the loth, 0-84 inch ; days 

 of fall, ten. 



Height of I'iver, 2-4 feet ; highest, 4 feet on the 4th and 18th. 



Wind— Resultant, W. 4° N. 



Whitley. — On the 14th a very peculiar and grand thunder- 

 storm occurred. It began suddenly about 2.45 p.m. The first 

 intimation was a peculiar darkness occasioned by what seemed 

 at the distance to be a wall of dense brown cloud approaching 

 from the South, but which proved to be only an immense column 

 of dust. The wind veered quite round the compass. The storm 

 lasted about three hours. The flashes of lightning were of the 

 most vivid kind, and were remarkable as occurring two and even 

 three at a time, the course of each flash being parallel to the 

 others. 



During the course of the storm the wind veered from S. to W., 

 then N. to E., and back again to S. The sea was high the night 

 before, but during the course of the storm was nearly calm. 

 The thermometer rose to 68° during the day. It was placed on 

 a north wall well shaded. 



North Shields. — A very bright meteor was seen on the 12th ; 

 its direction was from W. to S.W. The pear was in blossom 

 on the 10th. 



The maximum temperature, 72-5°, was registered on the 11th, 

 and the minimum, 32-2°, on the 4th. On no occasion did the 

 temperature fall below 32° on the grass. 



Sunderland. — Mr. Backhouse describes a "very magnificent 

 thunderstorm, on April 14th : many of the flashes of lightning 

 were among the grandest I ever saw, and consisted of several 



