METEOROLOGICAL REPORT. 
Sunshine in Plymouth for 1886. 
Sun above the Sun shone in Percentage No. of days 
Month. horizon Plymouth actual was no sun- 
hrs. min. hrs. min. of possible. shine. 
January 259 59 ... 56 10 ... 21 6 ... 11 
February 277 1 ... 50 25 ... 18*2 ... 11 
March 363 45 ... 85 13 ... 23*4 ... 10 
April 409 0 ... 154 45 ... 37*8 ... 3 
May 473 26 ... 184 5 ... 38*9 ... 3 
June 483 28 ... 210 45 ... 43*5 ... 1 
July 487 4 ... 218 15 ... 44*8 ... 2 
August 442 19 ... 154 45 ... 380 ... 4 
September 373 19 ... 117 20 ... 31*4 ... 8 
October 326 47 ... 80 35 ... 24*7 ... 7 
November 264 32 ... 64 25 ... 24*4 ... 9 
December 244 19 ... 77 25 ... 317 ... 6 
The sunshine for the year was 33 per cent, of that possible, or he 
shone in Plymouth one-third of the time he was above the horizon ; 
whilst on 75 days he was not visible here. The temperature for the 
year has been colder than the mean, caused entirely by colder days, 
nine months having been below and three months above the average. 
The freezing point was reached in the screen on 55 nights. Rain fell 
on 204 days to the amount of 35*3 inches, which is about 2 per cent, 
less than the average rainfall, but the number of rainy days was more 
than 9 per cent, greater than the mean. The greatest rainfall was on 
the 26th December, when we had 1*87 inches, 1*80 of which fell in six 
hours — the heaviest fall registered in Plymouth for so many hours, and 
what rendered it phenomenal was that a N.E. gale was blowing most of 
the time. This was the only day for the year that an inch was measured 
in 24 hours. The greatest atmospheric pressure for the year was on the 
24th November, when it was 30*686 ; the lowest was on the 8th 
December, when it was 28*520, the range for the year being 2*166 inches. 
The highest temperature was 83*4 deg. F. on 4th July ; the lowest was 
22*2 deg. F. on 21st December, the yearly range of temperature being 
61*2 deg. F. 
Cold Months. — January, February, March, April, May, June, July, 
August, December. 
Hot Months.— September, October, November. 
Wet Months. — January, March, July, October, December. 
Dry Months. —February, April, May, June, August, September, 
November. 
The year has been rather dry. The number of mornings on which 
easterly or westerly winds have blown has been below the average, but 
the number of calm mornings has been far above the mean. The 
longest dry period was from the 16th August to 31st August, during 
which time only *01 inch fell. The longest wet period was from 27th 
November to 28th December, during which time there were but two 
mornings on which no rain fell. From the 24th September to the 28th 
December there were only nineteen days on which no rain was measured, 
although we had drizzle on several of these so-called dry days. Great 
damage was done by gales in January, October, November, and 
December ; snow fell on twelve days, and on 31st March a hailstorm, 
with extremely large hailstones, visited us. Thunderstorms were 
registered in March, April, July, and December. 
