MU. A. W. I’RESTOX’s METEOROLOGICAL NOTES. 
195 
RAINFALL. 
Heanous. 
1890. 
1891. 
1892. 
1893. 
1891. 1 
1«K, - 
20-year 
average 
Departure 
uf 1895 from 
average. 
in. 
in. 
in. 
In. 
in. 
in. 
in. 
in. 
Winter ... 
4.80 
3.10 
6.36 
5.80 
4.81 
7.35 
6.02 
+ 1.33 
Spring ... 
5.14 
6.64 
5.10 
1.61 
5.62 
4.15 
5.21 
— 1.06 
Summer ... 
0.61 
9.39 
10.20 
5.37 
8.74 
7.51 
7.17 
+ 0.34 
Autumn ... 
6.87 
7.00 
11.15 
6.10 
7.12 
7.13 
8.50 
-1.37 
Year 
25.96 
28.35 
31.05 
19.66 
27.32 
24.91 
26.90 
— 1.99 
From the above it will be seen that the winter was much colder 
than the average, although not quite so cold (owing to the mild 
December) as 1801. The other seasons were somewhat warmer 
than the mean. The rainfall of the winter and summer was 
slightly excessive in each case, but the dry periods in the spring 
and autumn made the total for the year decidedly deficient. 
Y EAR. 
The mean temperature of the year was about the average, 
notwithstanding the intense cold of the first two months. The 
warm weather of March, April, May, September, and November, 
counteracted the previous severity, with the result that the excesses 
of cold and heat equally balanced. The rainfall was about two 
inches deficient, and although September was the driest month, the 
long-continued want of rain in April, May, and June, was the 
most severely felt, and affected vegetation to an extent from which 
it never recovered. There were, however, so many meteorological 
features during the year of an abnormal character that it will not 
be easily forgotten. The frost in the early months, though on the 
mean not quite so severe as in the winter of 1890-1 was greater on 
some nights in its intensity, and in the damage it created. It was 
certainly one of the most severe winters of the present century. 
Next came the great hurricane of March 24th, when the wind 
blew with greater fury than within living memory, and will leave 
its mark for some years to come. The summer was one of the 
finest, longest, and warmest for many years, with much bright 
sunshine and warm, pleasant days, without any such exceptional 
heat as occurred in August, 1893. The warm weather at the end 
of September was by no means the least remarkable meteorological 
feature of the year, and the great cold at the end of October, the 
warmth in the middle of November, and the violent gales in that 
and the following month should also be noted in a summary of 
a year presenting so many exceptional features. 
