668
Odober the weather, for the firft twenty days, -was the mod part rainy; the mercury,in Fahrenheit’s thermometer, was feldom below freezing point, and moftly fluctuatedbetween 3 2 and 44.
The fnow made its firft appearance in fleet on the 9th, and the following day camedown in flakes and in large quantities; on the 24th the mercury fuddenly funk to 25,rofe the next morning above the freezing point, a fudden thaw enfued, and all thefnow difappeared in a few hours. The fummer and winter are not, as in our climate,gradually divided by fpring and autumn, but feem almoft to fucceed each other.
On the 15th of November the Neva * was entirely frozen f: foon afterwards the
The whole quantity of rain and fnowfollowing proportion : ,
water, taken together, which fell
Inches
in the courfe of a year,
Inches.
January,
0,979
July,
-
2,760
February,
o>979
Auguft,
*
-2,671
March,
o.8ot
September,
w
3>47i
April,
1,246
October, ' -
•
2.49 3
May,
1 »3 35
November,
m
1.5*3
June,
3»>
December,
0,979
22.34 5
The average quantity of rain which falls in London in the courfe of a year is equal to nineteen thoufandtwo hundred and foity-one.
* The freezing of the Neva is not attended with any peculiarities which diftinguifh it from other rivers.The following circumftances, which fell under my obfervation, are extracted from my journal.
Monday morning, Nov. 9. On Saturday the 7th, fmall pieces of ice, which came from the lake Ladoga ,were firft obferved floating with the ftream : the fame day in the evening the bridge of boats was removed,as in thefe cafes they colleft and would carry it away. Yefterday the pieces of ice were more frequent andmaffy ; today they are fmall floating iflands, which almoft cover the river: the (ides of the Neva arefrozen only a few feet from the banks ; all the canals are covered with ice, and people arc fcating uponthem.
Nov. 12 and 13. The Neva is frozen above the place where the bridge was ftationed, by the pieces ofice which have united and barred the palfage : below it the ftream is open for boats, which are continuallypaffing to and fro.
Nov. 13. The bridge of boats is again replaced, a3 there is no longer any danger of its being carriedaway by the floating maffes of ice; and will continue during the whole winter, a circumftance which hasnot happened fince the foundation of Peterlburgh.
Nov. ij. The river about and below the bridge is entirely frozen, and I faw perfons walking acrofsit. I am informed that yefterday the ice was ftrong enough to bear foot paflengers ; this will conveyfome idea of the feverity of the weather in this climate ; as the rapid current was open on the 13th, andon the next day was frozen.
Table of the freezing and thawing of the Neva for five fucceffiveyears, from Profeflor Kraft’s Obfervations.
2773-
«77+
J 775 -
1776.
2777-
New Style
l6
April
21
22
30
April,
—
—
—
—
—-
Old Style
2 7
May
2
May 3
May 6
May 11
*9
7
12
12
26
3°
■ 8
23
23
Dec. 7
Open 217 days.
200
1 204
201
210
See Nov. Ac. Pet. for 1777. P. II. p. 73.
f In 1784, the Neva was not finally frozen until the night of the 5th of December, N. S.
The thickaefs of the ice is from twenty-four to thirty-eight feet; the average about twenty-eight.
Gulf