594 mr. A - w - preston’s meteorological notes. 
shade, which was the onty occasion during the year on which 
80 degrees was reached. The wettest month was April, with 
3.65 ins. of rain, and the driest was September with only 
.52 ins. The total rainfall of the year (26.25 ins.) was less 
than that of 1906, but the number of days on which rain (or 
snow) was measured exceeded that of any on our records, 
the next highest being 1900, with 222 days. The total 
number recorded (231) was 40 days above the average. No 
excessive fall occurred on one day, the heaviest having 
been .74 ins. on April 30th, against 1.05 ins. in both 1905 and 
1906. The foregoing figures show that 1907 attained its 
rainy reputation not from the excess of rain, but from the 
unusually large number of days on which it fell. The total 
rainfall for the year only exceeded the mean by half an inch, 
although by the end of June the total of the first six months 
had been as much as 3.51 ins. above the normal. July, 
August, September, and October all gave a deficient rainfall, 
resulting, notwithstanding that November and December 
were wet, in the second half of the year being considerably 
drier than the average ; in fact the rainfall of the first half 
exceeded that of the second half, whereas in a normal season 
the second half should exceed the first half by 5^ inches. 
A notable feature of the year was a remarkable absence of 
thunderstorms, there being practically none at the time 
when they usually attain their greatest frequency and intensity. 
The low temperature and excess of days with rain, following 
on a winter of greater severity than any since 1895 (broken 
only by a brief period of real summer weather at the end of 
March), made the weather of the year appear exceptionally 
bad and ungenial, and the great preponderance of cloud and 
absence of sunshine during the summer resulted in flowers 
and fruits being much behind their usual times of flowering 
and ripening. The fruit crop, though late, was an exceedingly 
fine one. 
