COUNCIL Foil 1896 . 
Xlll. 
October has been so cold since 1842 (43*3°), although that of 
1887 was only half a degree warmer. May 12th was 
remarkably hot; one of our maximum thermometers reached 
80°, the other rather less. The day before was absolutely 
cloudless, an event rarely known here. 80° or above was 
further reached three times in June and once in July, or five 
times in all. From March to June clear days were abundant, 
as tested by the visibility of the West Riding Hills from 
Feversham Terrace. But the Autumn was most unfavourable 
in this respect. 
Mean Pressure was slightly in excess, and greatly so in 
January. That the month should have been also exceptionally 
mild is therefore the more unusual. It may be traced to the 
position of the high barometer. The centre of the anticyclone 
was to the North West: usually it forms in winter to the North 
East, over Scandinavia and Siberia. The unusual conditions 
are shown in the charts at the end of the Report, re-produced 
from the Weekly Weather Report of the Meteorological office, 
and kindly lent by the Natural History Journal. The contrast, 
indeed, could not be better illustrated than by comparing the 
winter with that of the previous year. Then, also, the 
barometer rose above 31 inches, but this was in Scandinavia 
(January 28th), although so near as Christiana. Thirty-one 
inches was reached first at Stornoway on the evening of the 
8th. Fort William reported 31*098 inches, which is the highest 
ever known in our islands. In Banffshire 31*007 was recorded 
in 1778, 31*046 in 1808, and 31*07 was also reported in 
Scotland in 1820. The highest for York, previously, was 
30 99 in March, 1854. As we have previously only had ten 
records in all as high as 30*80, it is remarkable that 30*86 
was again reached on January 29th and 30th, when 30*96 
inches was recorded in South Ireland. 
The lowest record for York was 27*777 inches in December, 
1886, when 27*24 was registered at Omagh, County Tyrone. 
Thus the extreme range for York now stands at 3*228 inches, 
and for the British Islands at 3*86. This is a difference in 
pressure of nearly 21bs, per square inch, or some 3,000 tons 
per acre. Yet no one would perceive the change who had 
not a barometer at his elbow. 
