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XXIII. 
REPORT ON THE RAINFALL IN HERTFORDSHIRE IN THE 
YEAR 1902. 
Ey John Hopkinson, F.L.S., F.Gr.S., F.E.Met.Soc., Assoc.Inst. C.E. 
Foe the year 1902 the alterations in the staff of our observers 
result in a gain of three on the number for the previous year, the 
losses being two and the gains five. Fairhill, Eerkhamsted, dis¬ 
appears from the list owing to the observer having left the county; 
and the return received for the Colne Valley Water Works, Watford, 
has had to he omitted owing to errors in the record which led to 
the discovery that the gauge leaked. The gains are Wigginton 
Vicarage; Frogmore, St. Albans; Weetwood, Watford; Feilde’s 
Weir, Hoddesdon ; and Hadley, Earnet. Wigginton Vicarage takes 
the place of Fairhill, Eerkhamsted, leaving the number of rainfall 
stations in the river-district of the Bulbourne the same as before ; 
and Weetwood, Watford, takes the place of the Colne Valley Water 
Works, making no difference in the number of Lower Colne stations. 
Frogmore, St. Albans, adds one station to those in the Ver district; 
and Feilde’s Weir and Hadley add two to the Lower Lea stations. 
These alterations result in the principal table containing the 
records of 48 stations, a number which has not before been exceeded, 
and has only once (in 1898) been equalled. The number of daily 
records received is 40, which is four more than for any previous year. 
For fulness of detail supplied the year is therefore a record one. 
Particulars of the 48 rainfall stations, and the monthly and 
total rainfall and number of days of rain in 1902, are given in 
Tables I and II, pp. 229-231. 
A supplementary table (Table III, p. 232) gives fourteen other 
records of the total rainfall in the year. Two are records of 
additional gauges at Eothamsted, four are those of additional gauges 
at Odsey, Eosebank and Eose Cottage, Eerkhamsted, and at Weet¬ 
wood, Watford, and eight are from ‘ British Eainfall, 1902.’ 
The mean rainfall in Hertfordshire in the year 1902 was 20T 2 
inches. This is 4-66 ins. below the average for the decade 1890-99, 
and 6-03 ins. below that for the 60 years 1840-99. The mean 
number of wet days in the year was 162, being 5 less than the 
average for the thirty years 1870-99, and 24 more than that for 
the previous year, when the rainfall exceeded that of 1902 by 
1 inch. Last year was therefore one of very small rainfall of 
frequent occurrence in relation to the amount which fell. 
Droughts in 1902.—Only one drought is recorded in the year, an 
“absolute” one (that is a period of more than 14 days without 
rain) in September-October, and it appears in the returns from 
a few stations only. Its period, according to the records from these 
stations, was for 15 days, Sept. 16-30, at one station; for 15 days, 
Sept. 24-Oct. 8, at two stations; for 16 days, Sept. 17-Oct. 2, at 
two stations; for 18 days, Sept. 13-30, at one station; for 18 days, 
Sept. 17-Oct. 4, at three stations; and for 20 days, Sept. 15-Oct. 4, 
