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MR. A. W. PRESTON S METEOROLOGICAL NOTES. 
The Year. 
To sum up, the year may be described as being, on the whole, 
an exceedingly fine one. Although the snowdrifts in January were 
greater than for many years past, and were attended with consider- 
able flooding at the thaw in the following month, the frosts during 
the winter were very slight, and the warmth in the latter part of 
February was almost phenomenal. Much warm weather ensued 
until April, when an exceedingly early development of vegetable 
life received an abrupt check, and the rough North-easterly winds 
which prevailed for some weeks had, in some localities, a disastrous 
effect upon the apple crop. The earlier months were somewhat 
wetter than usual, but May was exceedingly dry, as were also July 
and August, when, combined with excessive heat, field and garden 
suffered severely for the third season in succession. Notwithstand- 
ing that September was rather rainy, October and November were 
abnormally dry, although the reverse might have been expected 
after a summer with so small a rainfall. Much fine weather pre- 
vailed during this period, thereby prolonging the summer to an 
unusual extent, and, but for the density of some of the morning 
and evening fogs, it was difficult to realise that the approach of 
Christmas was so near at hand. There was hardly any frost till 
December 23rd, when four rather sharp nights were again succeeded 
by mildness. The gale and high tide of November 29th were 
one of the most notable features of the year, but not less so was 
the deficiency of the total rainfall, which, with that of the two 
previous years amounted to 10.44 in., a deficiency which will, no 
doubt, in due course be fully made up to us. 
N.B. — It may be mentioned that this Station has been made a Climatolog- 
ical Station of the Royal Meteorological Society, as from 1st January, 1897, 
and was visited by the Society’s Inspector in September, 1897. 
