10 
REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR I909. 
being taken on Jan. 4th at 9 p.m., the lowest, 28*305 inches, 
on Dec. 3rd at 9 a.m. 
Rain or Snow (0*005 inches or more) fell on 225 days, the 
same number as in 1908, the amount of rainfall was, how¬ 
ever, 24*75 inches, an increase of nearly 3 inches for the year. 
This is equivalent to an increase of nearly 14 o /° for the year, 
and justifies the memories linked with the uncomfortable 
rehearsals and lamentable performances of the York Pageant. 
The wettest months were December, March, August, with 
rainfalls amounting to 4*37, 3.36, and 2*86 inches respectively, 
while November, January and February yielded 0.47, 0*59, 
and 070 inches respectively. 
The cumulative totals for the wettest months since 1841 
are now October 186*51 inches, August 18375 inches, and 
July 171*36 inches. The heaviest rainfall occurred on Aug. 
17th, when *98 inch fell. A phenomenal fall of snow occurred 
on December 20—21. 
Observations on the winds show that we have had to record 
during the year the occurrence of 32 “ strong winds,” 9 
“ calms,” both being lower than in 1908. The chief air 
currents were W. (181), S. (147), N.E. (121), S.W. (70), 
E. (62), N.W. (61). 
Days of “ clear ” sky numbered 49 as in 1908, “ overcast ” 
128 as against 130 for 1908. There were 13 thunderstorms 
and 23 "fogs,” a reduction of 13 on the previous year. Snow 
fell on 31 days, chiefly in the first quarter of the year, though 
two occurred in May ! 
Bright sunshine again suffered a reduction from 1259 hours 
to 1145, this representing only 26% of possible sunshine. 
The Observatory. —The Observatory and its instruments 
are all in good working order. The view from the dome had 
been getting more and more restricted every year owing to the 
growth of the trees, and therefore the opportunity was taken 
at the time of the Pageant to lop the branches of the more 
obtrusive trees, with the result that the equatorial is now able 
to sweeping a much larger area of sky, especially towards the 
east. 
