Abstract
LATELY the conditions of weather on the Adelaide Plains have been so very interesting to the English meteorologist that a few figures will doubtless be acceptable to readers of NATURE. On February 18 the shade-maximum temperature at this observatory was 105.5 during a barometric depression. This was followed by a minimum of 48°.7 accompanying a barometric crest on the morning of the 21st, a range of 56.8 within three days. Again, at 3 p.m. on the 18th the dry bulb read 105°.5, and wet bulb 69°.1, giving the extraordinary difference of 36°.4. These figures actually give 9 as the percentage of relative humidity, according to Guyot. The instruments are exposed in an enlarged Stevenson screen, which answers admirably in this climate; and what can be a better test? I may add that I also have a small “Stevenson,” of the pattern usually employed in England, with duplicate instruments. The differences between the two usually amount to merely a few tenths of a degree. The Hon. Ralph Abercromby, who visited my observatory a short while ago—since my return from Queensland—was much pleased with the result of my comparison. I reserve a table for the Royal Meteorological Society, but I may mention that I claim to have proved that Mr. Stevenson's screen is in every way suitable for the hot and dry climate of this continent. I am strongly of opinion that this screen, in its enlarged form, should henceforth be universally employed to secure uniformity of exposure—a desideratum of the very highest importance. I have strongly recommended its adoption throughout Queensland. I have found no trace of undue heating of the internal louvres, even under temperatures over 100°.
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WRAGGE, C. Weather in South Australia.—Stevenson's Thermometer-Screen. Nature 33, 533 (1886). https://doi.org/10.1038/033533c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/033533c0
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