118 
JOURNAL  OF  HORriCULTURE  AND  COTTAOE  GARDENER, 
February  6,  1902. 
Then,  however,  after  nearly  eight  months  of  dry  weather, 
and  following  a  series'  of  unprecedentedly  severe  autumnal 
frosts,  came  the  inevitable  change  with  the  second  week  of 
December,  and  the  year  closed  with  a  period  of  very  wet 
weather,  which  over  the  more  northern  districts  of  our 
islands  partook  of  the  character  of  severe  snow-storms. 
Taking  the  year  as  a  whole,  although,  from  an  agricul¬ 
tural  point  of  view,  the  w-eather  conditions  have  certainly 
given  justifiable  cause  for  the  complaints  which  emanate  so 
regularly,  at  the  close  of  each  season,  from  such  quarters  ; 
from  that  of  the  more  numerous  class,  whose  gardening 
ambitions  are  regulated  by  the  extent  of  their  back  gardens, 
the  year  must  be  admitted  to  have  been,  taken  as  a  whole, 
most  pleasant  and  enjoyable.  Although  in  a  short  article 
of  this  description  it  is  impossible  to  give  an  exhaustive 
account  of  the  rainfall  of  the  year,  its  general  distribution 
over  our  islands  will  be  seen  from  the  following  table,  which 
gives  the  monthly  and  yearly  falls,  and  the  differences  from 
the  average  at  eight  selected  stations  :  — 
General  Rain  Distribution,  1901. 
1901.  ABERDEEN  LEITH  LIVERPOOL  VALENCIA  BRISTOL  JERSEY  OXFORD  LONDON 
ins. 
ms. 
ms. 
ms. 
ms. 
ins. 
ms. 
ms. 
January  ... 
1-90 
1-85 
1-85 
3-75 
2-04 
2-01 
1-04 
0-75 
February.. 
2-29 
1-27 
1-26 
2-32 
1-01 
1-67 
1-31 
0-98 
March . 
1-83 
1-51 
1-66 
3-42 
2-94 
3-01 
1-44 
2-07 
April  . 
2-28 
1-26 
1-58 
6-59 
3-30 
4-81 
2-10 
1-90 
May . 
2-35 
2-08 
0-97 
2-81 
1-10 
1-18 
1-24 
0-72 
June  . 
1-28 
1-79 
1-88 
2-93 
1-91 
0-85 
1-52 
1-83 
July . 
2-07 
1-02 
2-50 
1-80 
2-71 
2-01 
4-66 
3-21 
August  ... 
3-38 
3-72 
2-77 
3-45 
2-80 
1-93 
2-13 
2-20 
September  1-53 
0-96 
1-19 
8-10 
1-96 
1-53 
1-86 
1-43 
October  ... 
3-05 
1-61 
3-02 
4-66 
1-57 
3-87 
1-18 
2-64 
November 
2-21 
2-51 
3-10 
3-10 
0-50 
1-31 
0  54 
0-65 
December 
3-82 
2-86 
3-41 
7-25 
5-42 
5-38 
3-29 
3-11 
Total  falls  27-99 
22-44 
25-19 
50-18 
27-26 
29-56 
22-31 
21-49 
Averages 
30-84 
23-35 
28-93 
55-80 
34-88 
34-18 
25-72 
24-84 
Depart¬ 
ures  from- 
-2-85 
-0-91 
-3-74 
-5.62 
-7-62 
-4-62 
-3.41 
-3.35 
average 
The  rainfall,  therefore,  was,  so  far  as  these  stations  show-, 
deficient  over  the  w-hole  of  our  islands  ;  the  departure  from 
the  average  being  greatest  in  the  west  midland  districts, 
and  least  over  Scotland.  The  only  months  with  a  general 
excess  of  fall  w-ere  April  and  December ;  wdiile  January, 
February,  May,  October,  and  November  were  almost  every- 
w-here  dry.  The  most  notew-orthy  feature  of  the  year’s  fall 
was  a  remarkable  downpour  over  the  northern  counties  of 
England  on  November  11  and  12. 
Mean  atmospheric  pressure  during  the  year  w-as  generally 
in  excess.  The  monthly  means,  and  those  for  the  year,  at 
the  stations  for  w-hich  the  rainfall  values  have  been  given, 
ai’e  as  follows  :  — 
Atmospheric  Pressure. 
1901. 
ABERDEEN 
LEITH  LIVERPOOL  VALENCIA  BRISTOL 
JERSEY 
OXFORD 
LONDON 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
Jan . . 
.  29-873 
29-887 
29-978 
29-941 
30-040 
30-082 
30  049 
30-060 
Feb . 
.  30-024 
30-048 
30-080 
30-157 
30-086 
30-085 
30-077 
30-059 
March  ... 
.  29-738 
29-745 
29-766 
29-806 
29-773 
29-794 
29-777 
29-774 
April . 
.  29-710 
29-723 
29-782 
29-782 
29-828 
29-886 
29-836 
29-851 
May  . 
.  30-143 
30-128 
30  115 
30-085 
30-104 
30-067 
30-113 
30-099 
June . 
.  29-935 
29-963 
30-032 
30-064 
30-065 
30-094 
30-070 
30-069 
July  . 
.  30-026 
30-016 
30-016 
30-068 
30-013 
30-015 
30-008 
30-010 
August ... 
.  29-910 
29-930 
30-007 
30-050 
30-060 
30-096 
30-061 
30-066 
Sei)t . 
.  29-881 
29-856 
29-881 
29-747 
29-898 
29-912 
29-925 
29-936 
Oct . 
.  29-793 
29-798 
29-874 
29-920 
29-927 
29-963 
29-926 
29-941 
Nov . 
.  30-053 
30-079 
30-143 
30-184 
30-190 
30-210 
30-188 
30-175 
Dec . . 
.  29-433 
29-462 
29-587 
29-690 
29-649 
29-752 
29-662 
29-666 
Mean  .. 
.  29-860 
29-885 
29-938 
29-958 
29-969 
29-996 
29-974 
29-976 
Av.  mean  29-836 
29-856 
29-914 
29-919 
? 
29-977 
29-955 
29-957 
Depart¬ 
ures  from-t-0-024  -f 0-029 
+  0-024 
+  0-039 
? 
+ 
o 
o 
CD 
+  0-019 
+  0-019 
average 
These  figures  show  a  general  deficiency  of  pressure  for- 
March,  April,  and  December,  and  an  excess  in  February,. 
May,  August,  and  November ;  the  departure  from  normal 
being  very  large  during  the  latter  month.  The  greatest 
pressure  at  8  a.m.  reported  over  our  islands  during  the 
year  was  30.70  inches  at  Roche’s  Point  on  February  16,  and 
again  at  Valencia  on  November  29  ;  and  the  least  28.48  inches 
at  Blacksod  Point  on  March  1,  a  range  of  2j  inches. 
Unlike  the  four  preceding  years,  all  of  which  were  much 
warmer  than  usual,  the  mean  temperature  of  the  twelve- 
months  did  not  differ  much  from  normal.  In  the  third 
table  given,  the  mean  temperature  for  each  month,  and  also' 
for  the  year,  at  eight  stations  situated  over  our  islands  will 
be  seen. 
Mean  Temperature!  During  the  Months. 
1901.  ABERDEEN  LEIl  H  LIVERPOOL  VALENCIA  BRISTOL  JERSEY  OXFORD  LONDON'. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
January  ... 
38-5 
39-3 
38-8 
45-0 
38-6 
42-9 
37-7 
39-0 
February.. 
35-6 
37-7 
37-1 
40-3 
36-6 
39-7 
35-8 
36-0 
March . 
38-8 
40-2 
39-9 
42-8 
40-4 
43-3 
39-6 
39-9 
April  . 
44-3 
46-2 
47-5 
47-2 
48-0 
50-4 
48-3 
49-2 
May . 
49-3 
51-8 
53-7 
53-6 
53-9 
55-2 
53-2 
54-8 
June  . 
53-5 
56-4 
56-8 
55-7 
58-4 
59-7 
58-5 
60-0 
July . 
59-9 
62-4 
63-8 
59-8 
65-3 
64-9 
65-3 
66-4 
August  ... 
57-3 
59-8 
60-1 
58-9 
61-4 
64-3 
61-6 
64-0 
September  54-7 
57-2 
57-5 
56-9 
57-8 
61-0 
57-6 
59-4 
October  ... 
46-8 
48-8 
50-3 
51-2 
50-2 
54-7 
49-8 
50-6 
November 
41-3 
42-7 
42-5 
46-3 
39-9 
46-5 
40-2 
40-5 
December 
37-5 
37-5 
39-5 
44-1 
39-0 
44-7 
38-3 
39-3 
Mean  . 
46-5 
48-3 
49-0 
50-15 
49-1 
52-3 
48-8 
49-9 
Av.  mean 
46-2 
47-7 
48-8 
51-0 
49-2 
51-9 
48-8 
49-9- 
De]iart- 
ures  from 
+  0-3 
+  0-6 
+  0-2 
-0-85 
-0-1 
+  0-4 
+  0-0 
+  0-0 
average 
These 
means  are 
those 
of 
the  daily  maximum 
and 
minimum  readings,  and  are  not  corrected  for  diurnal  range. 
As  in  1900,  July  was  a  remarkably  warm  month,  April,  May,. 
August,  and  the  two  following  months  also  having  means^  in. 
excess  of  the  normal.  On  the  other  hand,  both  February 
and  November  w-ere  exceedingly  cold  ;  March  also  having  a. 
deficient  temperature.  The  cold  of  November  w-as  the  result 
of  three  separate  periods  of  frost  of  most  exceptional 
severity  for  the  time  of  year.  On  the  16th  of  this  month, 
during  the  prevalence  of  the  second  of  these  periods,  the 
maximum  temperature  in  London  was  as  low  as  28deg,  and 
at  Loughborough  27deg.  On  the  same  date  a  maximum  of 
44deg  was  registered  at  Aberdeen. 
Over  our  islands  the  greatest  temperature  reported 
during  the  year  w-as  90deg  at  several  stations  in  the  east  of 
England  on  July  18  and  19,  and  the  least,  12deg  at  Lough¬ 
borough  on  December  20,  an  extreme  range  of  78deg.  To- 
a  greater  or  less  extent  thunderstorms  were  reported  from 
various  districts  during  all  months  of  the  year  excepting 
February,  September,  and  November.  They  were  most 
prevalent  in  July,  during  which  month  storms  of  great 
severity  occurred  in  various  districts.  One  of  these  visited 
tire  metropolitan  area  on  July  25,  the  resulting  rainfall  of 
2.85  inches  at  Camden  Square  being  the  heaviest  daily  fall 
at  that  station,  with  one  exception,  for  forty-four  years. 
Heavy  snowstorms  prevailed  on  March  20  over  the 
southern  portions  of  Devon  and  Cornw-all  ;  on  March  29, 
over  the  northern  districts  of  England  and  Wales,  and 
generally,  on  various  dates,  over  the  norihern  parts  of  our*^ 
islands  during  the  middle  portion  of  December.  Aurora  was- 
observed  in  the  north  of  Scotland  on  January  22  and  23, 
February  6  and  8,  August  20,  and  November  18,  and  also  at 
Malin  Head  on  April  22,  and  at  Newton-Reigny  on. 
November  14. 
Gales  were  very  prevalent  during  January,  March,  and. 
December,  and  to  a  lesser  extent  in  the  three  autumn, 
months,  j-iie  most  serious  occurred  on  November  12  and  13, 
and  on  the  two  similar  dates  in  the  following  month.  These- 
prevailed  generally  over  our  islands,  and  were  the  result  of' 
deep  cyclonic  disturbances,  the  centres  of  which  passed  from, 
the  w-estw'ard  directly  across  our  islands. — H.  H.  Harding,, 
F.R.  Met, 'See-.,  Bristol. 
