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10
Meteorology of Greenwich.
The Returns of the Registrar-General show that the rain-fall in
the Metropolis, during the Quarter (14 weeks), has been 4.05 inches.
During the corresponding Quarter of last year the rain-fall was 7.28
inches. The mean temperature of the air was 40°. In the corresponding
Quarter of last year it was 37.1°. The coldest days during the
Quarter were Tuesday, January 27th, Tuesday, January 20th, and
Thursday, January 29th, when the thermometer indicated respectively
17.2°, 17.6° and 17.7°; or 14.8°, 14.4°, and 14.3° below the freezing
point of water. The coldest day during the corresponding Quarter of
last year was Sunday, the 12th January, when the thermometer
indicated 19.4°, or 12.6° below the freezing point of water.
January was an exceedingly cold month, with the smallest rainfall
since 1826. The amount measured was only 0.3 inches. From
the remarks upon the meteorology of the Quarter, by Mr. James
Glaisher, F.R.S., it appears that the mean temperature was 39.8
(13 weeks), and the rainfall only 3.2 inches. The mean temperature
at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, was below the average during
each of the 15 months ending January last; the mean of this cold
period was only 44°, and was lower than in any previous corresponding
period since 1813—15. There is, however, no previous instance
on record of the mean temperature being below the average for 15
successive months.
The measured rainfall at Greenwich during the last Quarter (13
weeks) was only 3.2 inches, and was 1.8 inches below the average for
the corresponding period in G5 years. The rainfall showed a marked
deficiency in January and March. The number of hours of bright
sunshine recorded during the Quarter at the Greenwich Observatory
was 2359, against 141.0 and 137.5 respectively in the first Quarters of
1878 and 1879. There was a marked increase in the recorded amount
of sunshine in each of the three months of the Quarter. The last two
winters have been very severe, the cold of the winter of the preceding
year being rather less intense than that of 1878—9, which although
somewhat milder, was more fatal in its effect upon the public health.