MH. A. w. Preston’s meteorological notes. 
669 
gave a similar or lower mean tempemture, and 1686 nearly as low; 
but the coldest February on record was in 1855, when the mean 
was as low lus 28.5 degree.s. Snow fell almost daily during the last 
sixteen days of the month under review, and the wind was almost 
persistently in the north and north-east. 
March. 
With the exception of the second week, this month was a 
continuation of the protracted winter weather which prevailed 
throughout February, and was even colder than the severe March 
of the previous year. Frosts occurred on no less than twenty-two 
niglits, and snow fell on sixteen days, and by the close of the 
month the country was as sterile as in the depth of winter. The 
rain and melted snow brought up the total fall to over three inches, 
and the humid state of the atmosphere made the land completely 
saturated, “ ilarch dust” being conspicuous by its absence. The 
wind was almost entirely north-east and north-w’cst, and was on 
most days of a most searching description. The ground was covered 
with snow from February 13th to March 6th and from March 
11th to 21st. The snowfall of the 25th was one of the deeijcst of 
the winter. 
April. 
This was another exceptionally cold month, and the weather of 
the first, second, and fourth weeks was extraordinarily severe for so 
late in the season. On many mornings in the first week the ground 
was covered with snow, and the penetrating north-east winds of the 
first and last weeks will not soon be forgotten. The mean tempera- 
ture of the month was the lowest recorded in this neighbourhood 
for fifty-one years, in fact during the last 118 years only in three 
(1771, 1782, and 1837) does there appear to have been so low a 
mean temperature registered in April. Vegetation was extremely 
backward, and had there not been three or four fairly warm days in 
the middle of the month no signs of spring whatever would have 
manifested themselves. 
May. 
This month was very dry with much bright sunshine, attended 
with cold winds and frequent ground frosts. The mean tem])erature, 
X x 2 
