REPORT ON METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS AT WISLEY. 127 



Rain fell on 23 days to the total depth of 3-23 in. 



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



Heaviest fall on any day 0*60 in. on the 14th 



The prevailing winds were southerly and south-westerly. 

 The average velocity of the wind was 9*8 miles an hour. 



There were 77 hours of bright sunshine, equal to 28 per cent, of the greatest possible 

 amount. 



There were only 5 days on which no sunshine was recorded. 



March. — With the advent of March the weather improved, and the 

 boisterous, unsettled conditions of February gave place to a quiet and 

 fairly fine period. There were, however, some rather sharp night 

 frosts in some parts of the Kingdom, the thermometer in the screen 

 falling several degrees below freezing, whilst on the grass readings below 

 20^ were registered in a good many districts; at Wisley the lowest 

 grass temperature was 20°, but the thermometer fell below freezing 

 on twenty nights out of the thirty-one. The mean temperature of the 

 month was, however, above the average all over the Kingdom, not- 

 withstanding the fact that at no part of the month were very high read- 

 ings registered. The month was also a very dry one, the rainfall over 

 the greater part of England and the East of Scotland being under one 

 inch, and over some considerable areas less than half an inch; whilst 

 the number of days on which rain was measured was also small; at 

 Wisley there were 9, but at some stations not very far removed they fell 

 to 5 and 4. There was also a certain amount of fog, and at times it was 

 dense; but except in some parts of Ireland there was more than the 

 usual amount of bright sunshine; over the southern counties upwards 

 of 50 per cent, of the possible amount was registered, and at Wisley 

 there were only four days that were entirely sunless. 



The results from Wisley are as follows : — 



Mean temperature of the air in shade 46°.5 



Highest „ „ „ 63°.7 on the 21st 



Lowest „ „ „ 25°.l „ 3rd 



Lowest ,, on the grass 18°.0 „ 3rd 



Number of nights of ground frost ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 11 



At 1 ft. At 2 ft. At 4 ft, 

 deep. deep. deep. 



Mean temperature of the soil at 9 a.m 45°.8 46°.6 45°.7 



Highest „ „ „ 51°.0 50°.0 47°.9 



Lowest „ „ „ 39°.9 43°.2 44°.0 



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



represented by 100) 77 % 



Rain fell on 16 days to the total depth of 1-28 in. 



(Equivalent to about 6 gallons of water to the square yard.) 



Heaviest fall on any day 0*18 in. on the 28th 



The prevailing winds were from between south and north-west. 

 The average velocity of the wind was 5| miles an hour. 



There were 127 hours of bright sunshine, equal to 31 per cent, of the greatest 



possible amount. 

 There were only 4 days on which no sunshine was recorded. 



April. — The quiet settled weather of March came to an end with 

 the close of that month, and was succeeded by a period of extremely 

 unsettled weather, which affected the whole of the British Isles. 



