to the end
gradually declines to 66 degrees and sometimes to 60 degrees. In
the mornings it is as low as 52 degrees, and fires become in
consequence general throughout the colony.
The weather in the month of May is truly delightful. The
atmosphere is perfectly cloudless, and the mornings and evenings
become with the advance of the month more chilly, and render a
good fire a highly comfortable and cheering guest. Even during
the middle of the day the most violent exercise may be taken
without inconvenience. The thermometer at sun-rise is under 50
degrees, and seldom above 60 degrees at noon.
The three winter months are June, July, and August. During
this interval the mornings and evenings are very chilly, and the
nights excessively cold. Hoar frosts are frequent, and become
more severe the further you advance into the interior. Ice half
an inch thick is found at the distance of twenty miles from the
coast. Very little rain falls at this season, but the dews are
very heavy when it does not freeze, and tend considerably to
preserve the young crops from the effects of drought. Fogs too
are frequent and dense in low damp situations, and on the banks
of the rivers. The mean temperature at day-light is from 40
degrees to 45 degrees, and at noon from 55 degrees to 60
degrees.
The spring months are September, October, and November. In the
beginning of September the fogs still continue; the nights are
cold, but the days clear and pleasant. Towards the close of this
month the cold begins very sensibly to moderate. Light showers
occasionally prevail, accompanied with thunder and lightning. The
thermometer at the beginning of the month is seldom above 60
degrees at noon, but towards the end frequently rises to 70
degrees.
In October there are also occasional showers, but the weather
upon the whole is clear and pleasant. The days gradually become
warmer, and the blighting north-west winds are to be apprehended.
The sea and land breezes again resume their full sway. The
thermometer at sun-rise varies from 60 degrees to 65 degrees, and
at noon is frequently up to 80 degrees.
In November the weather may be again called hot. Dry parching
winds prevail as the month advances, and squalls of thunder and
lightning with rain or hail. The thermometer at day-light is
seldom under 65 degrees, and frequently at noon rises to 80
degrees, 84 degrees, and even 90 degrees.
Such is the temperature throughout the year at Port Jackson.
|