REPORT ON METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS AT WISLEY. 63 



grass — by no means unusual readings of the thermometer in Novem- 

 ber. Eainfall was above the average generally, but especially so in the 

 south-eastern corner of England, as was the case in October. At 

 Wisley 3^ inches fell, but in Sussex and Kent the falls amounted to 

 from 5 to 8 inches. Sunshine was about normal in amount, and 

 averaged nearly sixty hours over the greater part of England, and 

 ten hours more over the south-western counties. The winds were 

 mainly from southerly and westerly points and occasionally blew very 

 strongly. There was very little snow anywhere. 

 The results from Wisley are as follows : 



Mean temperature of the air in shade 44°-0 



Highest „ „ „ 58°-7 on the 4th 



Lowest „ „ „ 27°-0 „ 30th 



Lowest „ on the grass 18°*2 „ 22nd 



Number of nights of ground frost 14 



Atlft. At 2 ft. At 4 ft. 

 deep. deep. deep. 



Mean temperature of the soil at 9 a.m 44°-6 46°-3 50°-2 



Highest „ „ „ ... 50°-8 49°-8 52°-8 



Lowest „ „ „ ... 39°-l 42°-2 47°-0 



Mean relative humidity of the air at 9 a.m. (complete saturation being 



represented by 100) 86 % 



Rain fell on 16 days to the total depth of 3-26 in. 



(Equivalent to about 15 J gallons of water to the square yard.) 



Heaviest fall on any day 0-69 in. on the 11th 



The prevailing winds were south-westerly. 



The average velocity of the wind was 8 miles an hour. 



There were 61 hours of bright sunshine, equal to 23 per cent, of the greatest 



possible amount. 

 There were 6 days on which no sunshine was recorded. 



December. — The outstanding features of the weather of this month 

 were its storminess and the extraordinary rainfall which was experi- 

 enced all over the kingdom. The mean temperature was generally 

 above the average, but this was due to the high minima and to the small 

 range of temperature rather than to any unusually high readings of 

 the maximum thermometer; in the screen the thermometer rarely fell 

 to the freezing point, and on the grass night frosts were infrequent 

 and not severe. The weather was unsettled and boisterous all through 

 the month, although the gales were not very violent. The fall of 

 rain was excessive everywhere, and varied in amount from about 3 

 inches over a portion of eastern England to 10 inches in parts of 

 Hampshire and Kent, nearly the whole of Devon and Cornwall, and 

 Wales. In some of the normally wet districts the falls were very 

 heavy, as, for example, at Borrowdale, where it amounted to 27 inches, 

 and at Killarney, where it exceeded 12 inches. At Wisley the fall 

 amounted to 6^ inches, and a measurable amount fell on 25 days. As 

 is not seldom the case when rainfall is excessive, the amount of bright 

 sunshine was above rather than below the average, much of the rain 

 falling at night; speaking broadly, over the southern counties and 

 Wales there were from forty to sixty hours, and over the midlands and 

 the eastern part of Scotland between twenty and forty hours. 



