Scientific Serials

Abstract

Symons's Monthly Meteorological Magazine, October.— Meteorological extremes. II. Temperature. Mr. Symons has collected a large amount of useful information upon this subject from all trustworthy sources. For yearly mean temperatures preference is naturally given to Dr. Buchan's isothermic charts published in the Challenger volume, “The Circulation of the Atmosphere.” The highest yearly isotherms are 85°, and these occur only in three localities, the largest covering a portion of Central Africa, bounded on the north by latitude 18° N. Two smaller areas exist, one in Central India and the other in the northern portion of South Australia, respectively in latitude 15° N. and 15° S. The absolute range of the shade temperature in the northern hemisphere, and probably in the world, is 217°.8, depending on the absolute maximum of 127°.4 in Algeria, July 17, 1879, and the absolute minimum of –90°.4 at Verchoiansk, Siberia, January, 15, 1885. The hottest region is on the south-western coast of Persia, where the thermometer has been known not to fall lower than 100°, night or day, for orty consecutive days during July and August, and often to reach 128° in the afternoon. Among the highest shade temperatures we may mention one at night during the Italian occupation of Massowah, when the thermometer is said to have recorded 122°. Temperatures above 120° are occasionally met within India; 121°.5 was recorded at Dera-Ishmail-Khan (lat. 32° N.) in 1882, and 126°.0 at Bhag (lat. 29° N.) in 1859. At Wilcannia on the Darling River, New South Wales, shade temperatures varying from 107° to 129° were recorded on each day from January 1 to 24 in 1896. Among the low temperatures (in addition to the extremes mentioned above) we may quote –63°.1 at Poplar River, North America, in January 1885. During the intense frost in Scotland on December 4, 1879, –16° was reported from Kelsd and –23° from Blackadder, in Berwickshire. The extremes in or near London for 104 years were 97°.1 in July 1881, and 4° in December 1796 and January 1841.