66 
J. HOPKINSON-METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 
The relative humidity was 1 per cent, less than the average, as 
in the previous year. The sky was of average brightness. The 
rainfall, also, was about the average, but the number of rainy days 
was very great, being 18 more than the average at all stations in 
the county for the thirty years 1870-99, and 29 more than that for 
the four climatological stations in the previous year. The maximum 
temperature, which occurred in July, was nearly as high as the 
highest on record for these stations. 
Table II.— Means of Climatological Observations (with Extremes of 
Temperature') for the Seasons of 1899-1900. 
Seasons 
Temperature of the Air 
Humidity 
Cloud, 0-10 
Rain 
Means 
Extremes 
Amount 
Days 
Mean 
Min. 
Max. 
Range 
Min. 
Max. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
% 
ins. 
Winter . 
36 -9 
3i *5 
42‘3 
io *8 
9-0 
58*5 
9i 
7-8 
9‘42 
57 
Spring . 
45'2 
36 A 
53*9 
17-4 
15-0 
76*0 
77 
6’5 
2-96 
35 
Summer. 
617 
51-8 
717 
x 9‘9 
36*1 
93’9 
73 
6 -i 
6' 60 
38 
Autumn. 
5°'6 
427 
58-6 
i5'9 
22 ’2 
So -2 
84 
6*5 
5'37 
48 
The Winter of 1899-1900 (Dec. to Deb.) was of about average 
temperature, and the mean daily range was about the same as usual. 
There were two rather cold periods, the 8th to 24th of December 
and the 1st to 15th of February, but there was no exceptionally 
cold weather. The air was rather humid, the sky rather cloudy, 
and the rainfall very heavy, being 80 per cent, above the average, 
and falling on 30 per cent, more than the usual number of days. 
The Spring (March to May) was very cold, the days being 
a little more below the average temperature than the nights, the 
daily range therefore being a little smaller than the average. The 
air was rather drier than usual, the sky of average brightness, 
and the rainfall exceptionally small, being 41 per cent, below the 
average, but falling on nearly the usual number of days. 
The Summer (June to August) was very warm, owing rather 
more to the warmth of the days than of the nights, the daily range 
being a little greater than usual. The only exceptionally warm 
period, however, was from the 10th to the 30th of July. The air 
was rather dry, the sky bright, and the rainfall a very little below 
the average, as also was the number of rainy days. 
The Autumn (Sept, to JNov.) was also very warm, the nights 
being 1 degree and the days 2 degrees warmer than the average, 
the mean daily range of temperature therefore being considerable. 
The air was rather dry, the sky of average brightness, and the 
rainfall small, but there were more wet days than usual. 
We thus had a very wet winter of average temperature, a very 
cold and dry spring, a very warm summer of nearly average rain¬ 
fall, and a very warm and dry autumn. In the winter, however, 
December (1899) was rather dry and January was very mild; in 
