1904.] 0. Little — The recent excessive heat in Bengal, 3 



It will be seen that tlie average number of days on which tempera- 

 ture exceeded 103^ in the preceding ten years is less than 3 : and that in 

 1899 when the previous largest number of hot days occurred there WQre 

 eight such days. In the past season there have been eleven, on seven of 

 which the highest in 1899 was equalled or exceeded. On only one occa- 

 sion, viz., on 12th June, 1901, was the highest temperature of this year 

 exceeded, but I find that there is some doubt as to the accuracy of the 

 reading 108'''2 on that occasion, and that the temperature recorded in 

 the Indian Daily Weather Report is 107°"4. 



It may, I think, be reasonably assumed that high temperature, so 

 unusual and prolonged, must have been due to well-defined causes, and 

 the object of this short paper is to show at least one respect in which 

 the atmospheric conditions have differed materially from those of past 

 years. The difference has, in my opinion, not been noticeable in ground 

 level conditions, that is, neither pressure distribution, nor surface winds 

 will account for the excessive heat, whereas there has been a very notice- 

 able difference in the upper atmosphere, a fact which gives additional 

 force to the contention that until more is known regarding the pressure, tem- 

 perature and movement of the upper layers of the atmosphere, little pro- 

 gress can be made in explaining, still less in forecasting, weather changes. 



This unusual heat in Bengal is the more remarkable when it is con- 

 sidered that in another part of Northern India, that is, in the extreme 

 north-west, temperature varied from the normal in the opposite direc- 

 tion, and at times to an even greater extent as measured by the variation 

 from the normal. 



It is not, I think, advisable in connection with a brief paper, such 

 as this, to give full statistics for the temperature conditions in India for 

 several consecutive months, or even to show fully the daily temperatures 

 for Bengal in which there are 46 observatories. It is necessary, however, 

 that some indication may be given of the variation from the normal ; and 

 I have, therefore, prepared tables showing the difference from the normal 

 in maximum and minimum temperatures day by day, from the beginning 

 of April to nearly the end of June, for four more or less characteristic 

 areas. These areas are : — 



/' Cherat 



(1) North- West India represented by \ ^r^ 



^ Dera Ismail Khan 

 /^ Berhampur 



(2) North-East India represented by <„ ] 



j Bogi'a 



Dinajpur 



