COUNCIL FOR 1895. 
• • • 
Xlll. 
reduced to 30 days, for comparison, give totals of 86*22 
for March (actually 88 99), 87*66 for April, and 88*55 for 
February (actually 83*38). Here again the difference barely 
exceeds two inches. But there is the important contrast that the 
months are consecutive, with the least in the middle. The 
three highest falls are interrupted by September, with a total 
of 126*31 inches, which, even when corrected up to 31 days for 
comparison (130*52) falls some 18 inches behind them. 
Floods of eight feet or over occurred on 14 occasions, the 
highest being that of July 27th, which reached 10 feet 10 inches, 
and did much damage to outstanding hay. A table is appended 
showing, so far as the meagre returns will permit, the comparative 
rise of the Ouse at York, and higher up the three main affluents. 
It will be observed that the time taken to reach us from the 
three upper guages is about 24 hours from Pateley Bridge on the 
Nidd, rather less from Middleham on the Ure, and apparently 
longer from Richmond on the Swale. There is sufficient 
relation between the heights at the Upper Stations and the 
consequent flood at York, to show how accurately the height of 
the latter might be foretold, had we a system of recording 
guages. 
Auroras were noted on 23 nights, a considerable falling 
away from the total of 1894, and associated with the correspond¬ 
ing reduction in solar activity as indicated by sun spots. The 
most noteworthy were on March 13th and November 9th. 
The monthly distribution was 5, 2, 3, 1, from January to April, 
and 2, 2, 3, 5, from September to December. Their “ values 
on the scale of previous years were 28, against 44 last year and 
28 in 1894. 
Mock Suns were noted on March 17th, April 20th, May 30th, 
and September 8th. 
A remarkable and destructive Windrush , or so-called Whirl¬ 
wind, near Rotherham, should be recorded; details of it are 
given in the Natural History Journal for October. It occurred 
on August 10th, about 7-30 p m., during the progress of one of 
the violent thunderstorms which made last summer notable. 
Its course, nearly due North, was about eight miles long, and 
the serious damage on the outskirts of Rotherham suggest what 
might have occurred here on March 8th, 1890, had the track 
