416 METEOEOLOGICAL REPORT, 1SG9, 



and fine. On the 16tli there was a heavy gale of wind from 7 to 

 10 P.M. The morning of the 17th was calm but very frosty. 

 Between 8 and 9 p.m. a lunar halo was observed at a considera- 

 ble distance from the moon, and two mock moons in the centre 

 of the ring on each side, in a line passing through the centre of 

 the moon's disc. The two next days there was rain, sleet, snow 

 (the first fall this autumn), and a sharp cold frosty gale of wind 

 from the N.W. On the 26th the thermometer fell to 25°, with 

 such a bitter cold wind as to stop out of door work. 



Whitfield. — The mercury was below freezing point on ten 

 nights. The coldest night was that of the 26th, when the tem- 

 perature fell to 22°. 



Wylam. — The first part of the month very mild and fine ; 

 after the 12th it became daily cooler ; and in a day or two the 

 wind set in from the N. very strong, and bitterly cold. There 

 were disastrous storms on the E. coast, nearly daily, from the 

 16th to the 30th. 



Barometer— Mean height at 8 a.m. 29-999 ; highest, 30-465 

 on the 22nd; lowest, 29-143 on the 16th. 



Thermometer — Mean, 48-40° ; mean of fourteen years, 48-09°; 

 excess of 1869, 0-31°; highest, 72° on the 10th; lowest, 27° on 

 the 27th. Mean of wet bulb, 43-85° ; of dry bulb, 45-43°. 



Rainfall — 2-13 inches ; greatest, 0*48 inch on the 29th ; days 

 of fall, fourteen. 



Height of river, 1-9 feet; highest, 3-5 feet on the 19th. 



Wind— Resultant, W., 7° N. 



Horsley near Wylam. — On the 16th a strong gale of wind 

 from the N.W. at night. The next morning the ice on the 

 pools was |th of an inch thick. 



North Shields. — The maximum temperature was 69° on the 

 9th. The minimum 29° on the 27th. On three nights the tem- 

 perature fell below 32° on the grass. The rainfall was 0-47 inch 

 below the average of the years 1860-65. The greatest fall was 

 0-86 inch on the 28th. 



