46 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



REPORT ON THE METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS MADE 

 AT THE SOCIETY'S GARDENS AT WISLEY DURING 1912. 



By R. H. Curtis, Hon. F.R.H.S. 



The weather of 1912, and more particularly that of its summer months, 

 presented a strong contrast to the weather of its immediate predecessor, 

 whose brilliant summer was now followed by the coldest and most 

 sunless summer of which we possess reliable records. In August 191 1 

 the temperature at Wisley rose to above 96 degrees, and at the 

 Greenwich Observatory to 100 degrees, whilst the whole summer was 

 remarkable for the number of hot days and for their brilliant sunshine. 

 In August 1912 the highest temperature observed at Greenwich 

 only slightly exceeded 70 degrees, and at Wisley it was but 67 degrees, 

 and never before had an August so generally cold and sunless been 

 experienced. 



Taking a general survey of the year it may be described as mild 

 and open during the months of lowest temperature, and as decidedly 

 colder than usual throughout the summer, the difference between the 

 mean temperatures for these two divisions of the year being so slight 

 as to form a very unusual feature. The year was upon the whole a 

 wet one, but to this statement a few districts near the eastern littorals 

 of Ireland and Britain were exceptions. The frequency of rainfall 

 as well as its amount was large, the latter varying from about twenty 

 inches over south-east Essex, normally the driest part of the Kingdom, 

 to 112 inches upon Dartmoor, 140 inches at some of the wettest 

 parts of the Lake district, and to upwards of 200 inches in parts of 

 Snowdonia, these being some of the wettest portions of the Kingdom. 

 The unprecedentedly heavy deluge which fell upon Norfolk is referred 

 to in some detail in the notes for August. On the other hand there was 

 one remarkably dry month — April — when at Wisley there was no rain 

 between April 1 and May 4, a sequence of thirty-two rainless days. 

 Bright sunshine also was very deficient throughout the year, although 

 to this rule London proved a curious exception. At Wisley the total 

 duration was 1,392 hours, one-sixth of which (242 hours) were recorded 

 in April and only 107 hours in August ; the average daily duration for 

 the year was 3.8 hours. Gales were numerous but as a rule were not 

 exceptionally severe, nor were they remarkable for the damage they 

 did to trees and to vegetation generally. Snowstorms, also, were 

 neither numerous nor severe ; but in June several hailstorms occurred, 

 and ' immense damage to crops ' was reported in connexion with a 

 fall of snow and hail which visited Somerset on the 10th of that 

 month. 



Attention has been called by various observers spread over a large 

 area, embracing most of Europe and parts of the American continent 



