56 mr. a. w. preston’s meteorological notes. 
not been approached since the hard Winter of 1895 ; indeed, the 
lowest readings of the thermometer since that date had not been 
below 21 degrees. On the 25th a heavy rain quickly cleared 
away the snow, and by the 29th the thermometer had again reached 
60 degrees. 
April. 
This was a cloudy month, with more rain than usual. The total 
rainfall for the month was 1.21 in. above the average, and the 
heaviest recorded for April since 1882. Although the mean 
temperature was well up to the average, vegetation was backward 
through want of sunshine. Thunder was heard on the 8th , hail 
fell on the 8th and 11th, and snow on the last-named date. The 
Cuckoo was heard in full song on the 18th, and the Nightingale 
a few days later. 
May. 
Ungenial weather prevailed throughout the greater part of the 
month, with harsh northerly and north-easterly winds. There 
were but few even moderately warm days, and, as in May, 1898, 
the thermometer did not once touch 70 degrees. The rainfall was 
slightly above the average, but it was nearly all registered between 
the 14th and 25th. There were some heavy thunder-showers at 
times during that period, but as these storms were invariably 
followed by bleak, drying winds from a cold quarter, vegetation 
remained backward, and the Spring was, at the close of the month, 
considerably behindhand. 
June. 
A drought set in at the end of May, and continued without inter- 
mission until J une 18th, a period of twenty-two days. Temperature, 
which had been so low during May, took a sudden bound with the 
entrance of J une, and some of the earlier days of the month were 
very warm. An abrupt fall, however, took place at the end of the 
first week, with the advent of north-easterly winds, and the day 
temperatures, which had been as high as 81.2 degrees on the 5th, 
and 76 degrees on the 6th, fell to 54.6 degrees on the 8th. The mean 
temperature of the month was in close agreement with the average ; 
there were many bright sunshiny days, particularly during the first 
