152 
J. HOPKIXSON—METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 
the mean maximum more than 5 degrees above it, the daily range, 
as in May and June, being great. The maximum temperature 
exceeded 80° on the 5th, 10th to 12th, and 17th to 21st, and 85° 
on the 11th, 18th, 19th, and 20th. The duration of sunshine was 
about the same as in May, and as much in excess of the mean as 
in June. The prevailing direction of the wind was easterly and 
south-easterly. The only fall of rain between the 2nd and the 
22nd was on the 12th, the result of a thunderstorm. It was a very 
heavy one locally, and caused serious floods at "Watford. Yery 
large hailstones also fell, some about the size of walnuts, and did 
much damage to gardens. How local this storm was may be seen 
from the amount of rain gauged at our four stations: Bennington, 
0*12 in.; Berkhamsted, 1*22 in.; St. Alhans, 0*37 in.; Hew Barnet, 
0-00 in. From about the 23rd to the 28th rain fell every day to 
a rather large amount during a succession of thunderstorms. 
August. —Bather warm, with a dry atmosphere, a bright sky, 
and a rather small rainfall on a small number of days. The excess 
in the temperature was entirely due to the warmth of the days, 
the mean maximum being 2^° above the average, while the mean 
minimum was a little below it, giving a considerable mean daily 
range. The maximum temperature exceeded 80° on the 9th, 10th, 
and 25th, and on the 9th the range was nearly 26° at St. Albans 
and 30° at Berkhamsted. On several other days it was nearly as 
great. The duration of sunshine was nearly equal to that in July, 
and rather more in excess of the mean for the month. The wind 
was generally light. Its most frequent direction was westerly, 
then southerly, and then, nearly as frequently, south-westerly. 
Scarcely any rain fell until the 14th, and none from the 16th to 
the 24th. There were thunderstorms a day or two before and 
after this dry period. 
September. — Bather warm, with an atmosphere of average 
humidity, a cloudy sky, and a small rainfall on very few days. 
The mean daily range of temperature was about the same as usual. 
There was less than the average duration of sunshine ; 4 hours 
a day against an average of 5 hours. The air was very calm; 
at Berkhamsted Mr. Mawley recorded an average velocity at 
thirty feet above the ground of less than three miles an hour, and 
a maximum velocity not exceeding fourteen miles in any one hour. 
All the rain in the month fell during the second and third week, 
and about half on one day, the 16th. This is the first month 
since March in which the humidity and cloud have not been much 
less than the average, and in which the sunshine has not greatly 
exceeded the average. 
October. —Another rather warm month, the mean temperature 
being a little more in excess of the average than in September, 
with a rather humid atmosphere, a cloudy sky, and a rather small 
rainfall for the month with the highest average in the year, on 
nearly the usual number of days. The excess in temperature was 
a little more due to the warmth of the days than of the nights, 
the mean daily range being slightly above the average. The first 
