OCTOBER, 1869.

Southland Times, Issue 1158, 3 November 1869, Page 2

OCTOBER, 1869.

Geotjbali "RnnABKSr- t— ','A very fine, dry month, but cold.) .The- weather was brilliantly fine and warm from the 3rd to the 11th. -when a' strong magnetic polar current set in, and speedily reduced the temperature far below the average. The direction was generally a little to the east of S. This S.S.E.. poliir current continued during seven : days, accompanied on the 15 r h by hail-squalls, the only instance on record in 10 years of hail from that quarter. On the l7th, theVwind had veered to due E., and fallen light, wh«n .a very severe frost occurred, the thermometer sinking to 16 deg. on the grass, causing serious injury to vegetation, especially to the fruit blossoms ani early potatoes — evt-n the native shrubs and the fem and tutu were cut down to the ground by this unusual phenomenon. The frost was aa severe as any d'ir»n» the pa«t winter The barometer, which had steadily decreased for a week previous to the commencement of the polar current on the 11th, then rose a« steadily daring its continuance, and had reached it." greatest height at the time of the fro-<f just mentioned— on the 17th Ontbatday, at about 1.30 a.*., when the barometer was at - its highest and the thermometer at its lowest, and at the precise time when the magnetic- polar curent. ceased, a sharp shock of earthquake '' occurred, the direction from 9. to N. The earthquake has been followed by somewhat unsettled - weather, and the usual meteorological peculiarities. The few days immediately preceding the polar current, were further remarkable for several fine Aurora, and a , total absence of ozone, the latter causing much sickness. The current Beldom reached the f >rce of a gal« in Southland, but in the neighborhood, and especially off the west coast, the wind was very violent. The mean temperature of the air was 507 deg., which is 2 8 deg. below the average of 10 jears. The rainfall waa 278 inches, which is neither more nor less than the average. Barometer (corrected and reduced to 32 deg. Fah., a»d sea level).— Max., 30 301 (18th) ; min., 29 214 (22nd) ; mean, 29834 ; range, 1087 inch. Thermometer yn shade). — Max., 72*0 (9th and 10th) ; min., 260 (17th) ; mean, 507 ; total rango, 46-0 ; mean daily range, 198 deg. Hyoeometkb. — Dew point, 435 ; vapour tension, 0-283 ; relative humidity, 78. Kadiatiow.— Terrestrial mean, 31 "1 ; min., 160 (17th). Evaporation — Total an»ount, 2"920 inches. T OlotrD.— Mean amount, 5 - 5. 1 Wind.— N., 5; NJB.,O} E., 2; 5.8., 8j S., ;8. W., 1 ; W,, 5 ; N.W.,-9 days. Ankmometbb;— Mean, 263 iniles ; max., '520 (23rd). . . _ • Ozonometer:— Max. on 26th ; rero on 9th and 10th (contemporaneously with maximum temperature). Rainfaxl.— Total, 2789 inchea; .max.) in 24 hours, 084 inch (25th) ; rain fell on 10 daysi , ; ' OH^LES'EOUS MARTEN, Director. Martendale, Southland. '