SOME CONDENSED METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. May.There were fourteen fine days; five with snow or sleet. A north wind prevailed during the first half of the month; a west or south-west wind during the latter half. The coldest night was on the 15th (Camp 5), when 22° Fahr. of frost were registered by the minimum thermometers. June.Camps 16 to 42. There were twenty-six fine days. Snow fell on four days in the first week. There was no prevailing wind, variable throughout. On some days there was no wind at all, on others there was haze. The coldest night was on the 16th (Camp 30), with 25° of frost. The warmest night was on the 24th (Camp 37), with temperature 33° Fahr. On an average there were 14° of frost. On the 21st June (Camp 34), the maximum thermometer registered 110° in the sun. And on the 22nd June (Camp 35), 78° in the tent. July.Camps 42 to 72. There were twenty-one fine days and ten stormy or cloudy. Snow, sleet, or rain fell on ten days or nights. The prevailing wind was north or north-west. As a rule there was no wind in the early morning; it generally rose about nine o'clock. Sometimes dropped again during the early part of the afternoon, and nearly always blew hard again in the evening, only to drop again after dark. The coldest night was on the 10th July (Camp 51), with 26° of frost. The warmest night was on the 29th July (Camp 70), with 1° of frost. On the average there were 11° of frost at night. August.Camps 72 to 102. There were eleven fine days and eighteen with rain or snow, the greater portion of which fell during the night. The wind was variable. During the latter part of the month there were several severe storms, and many others passed by north and south of us. These storms generally burst over us in the afternoon or evening, coming up against the wind, from the west. The coldest night was on the 18th August (Camp 90), with 14° of frost. The warmest night, 25th August (Camp 96), registered 40° Fahr. The average temperature at night time was 34° Fahr. September.Camps 102 to 127. There were ten fine days and ten days cloudy, with snow or rain, and the last ten days were very fine. The prevailing wind was west. The coldest night was on the 11th (Camp 113), when 25° of frost were registered. The warmest night was on the 5th (Camp 107), when the temperature was 35° Fahr. The average amount of frost during the night was 12° of frost. The temperature at 7 p.m. was as high as 64° Fahr. on the 27th (Camp 127). October.Camps 127 to 141 to SHAPOHTSI. There were twenty-seven fine days, two cloudy days, two days with snow. The prevailing wind was east, often chopping round to west in the evening. The coldest night was the 10th (Camp 137), when 27° of frost were registered. The warmest night was the 13th (Camp 140), when 2° of frost were registered. The average amount of frost at night was 10° of frost. During November and December we experienced a continuation of bright clear weather with frosty nights. |