NOTES ON THE RAINFALL AT SARK, HERM 

 AND ALDERNEY, DURING THE YEAR 1909. 



BY BASIL T. ROWSAVELL. 

 o 



Through the continued and kindly co-operation of Captain 

 Henry, of La Vallee du Creux, Sark, and of Mr. W. J. Picot, 

 of Le Huret, Alderney, I am again able to supplement 

 Mr. Collenette's valuable paper on the year's rainfall at 

 Guernsey by a Table giving the rainfall at Sark and 

 Alderney with, in addition, a few notes on the weather 

 experienced in those islands and at Herm as compared with 

 our own. On the other hand, it is with regret that I have 

 to report the closing of the station at Herm, but, owing 

 to an unexpected change of observer, the readings there 

 became unreliable because of difficulties in the way of a 

 systematic visit to the gauge presenting themselves. The 

 station was therefore definitely closed at the beginning of 

 July. I must, however, tender very hearty thanks to Mr. 

 Leicester Gore, Avith whose help the station was kept open 

 for three years. 



The year 1909 both at Sark and Alderney, as at 

 Guernsey, proved decidedly more rainy than its predecessor. 

 At Sark the difference was 7.62 in. and at Alderney 8 97 in. 

 This great increase of rainfall, however, was not supported 

 by a proportionate increase in thenumber of " rain days," and 

 here again we have complete agreement with the Guernsey 

 observations. The explanation of course is that 1909 had a 

 bigger number of heavy falls than 1908, a statement amply 

 borne out by the figures in the Table. In 1908 it was 

 apparently always raining more or less, but in such small 

 quantity the totals grew very slowly ; in 1 909 rain fell 

 practically as often (at Alderney indeed somewhat oftener) 

 as in 1908, but with much better effect as regards the 

 aggregate rainfall. 



The stations at Sark and Alderney have not been 

 established a sufficiently long time to allow of an average 

 being worked out for those islands, but since at Guernsey the 

 [1909.] 



