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accurate journal of one or more places on the west coast, to show the very great influence of the Japanese Gulf stream.
Although in regard to direction of wind the year in Nagasaki is divided into two monsoon periods, it is not so in regard to the temperature of that place. The thermometer shews us that the year must be divided into four nearly equal seasons.
The lowest temperature in the open air (shade) was in 1872 on the 4th February=25.9 degrees Fahrenheit, and the highest on the 2nd and 3rd August=93.0 degrees Fahrenheit.
The coldest month is January with the medium temperature of 41.2; the warmest month is August with the medium temperature 82.3. In the two months July and August the heat is quite tropical (81.9 and 82.3.) Inside the house the thermometer in 1872 never fell to the freezing point. The lowest temperature was on the 23rd January=35.6. The highest on the 2nd August=89.6.
The number of rainy days in 1872 was 122 or exactly one-third of the 366 days of the year. The quantity of rain over the whole year was 47.71 inches, or about 2.5 times as much as falls in London during one year and nearly twice as much, as falls in Amsterdam. This year was characterized by a very short rainy season, which period ordinarily commences in the beginning or middle of June. In 1872 the greatest number of rainy days occurred in April, it having 15 rainy days with a fall of 11.04 inches. Next to April comes June with 13 rainy days and 5.66 inches of fall, then follows August with 12 rainy days and 5.73 inches of fall. October was in 1872 the dryest month, it having only 4 rainy days and 0.95 inch of fall.
December gives the largest number of misty days 19.1, although it must be observed that mist in Nagasaki exists chiefly in the morning and evening. Mist very seldom prevails during a whole day. Snow only fell in 1872 in January and February together on twelve different days.
