COUNTRY VERY DRY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 123, 6 March 1941, Page 4

COUNTRY VERY DRY.

LIGHT RAIN FALLS TO-DAY THREE: INCHES' ARE REQUIRED “I have never seen it so dry,” a farmer from the Mothven district told a “Guardian” reporter this morning. “It is not so, much the absence of rain but the, intense heat, the temperatures during the last two months having been uniformly high. Everything is drying off and.the turnips are withering and being ravaged by pests.” At the time this statement was made light rain was falling at Ashburton, hut at Methven, while it was dark to the south-west, the barometer was rising slowly and there seemed to he little possibility of a serious break in the weather. After boisterous north-west conditions in Ashburton last evening, the wind swung round to the south-west this morning and the sky clouded over, light rain starting to fall about,noon. The maximum temperature was 87.4 degrees yesterday, the highest reading since February 18, and the minimum temperature last night whs 69 degrees, an extremely high, reading. The minimum temperature on the previous night was 55.9. The barometer was down to 29.47 inches this morning, compared with 29.83 yesterday. In the Mayfield district there was some rain about noon to-day. A'farmer said this morning that a fall of three inches was required. Such a respectable fall of rain would be highly beneficial to green crops and would do something to revive turnips. Grass would come away quickly in the warm ground and it would enable farmers to cultivate land, which, has up to the present been too hard fer green feed sowing. *••-■* • . '• 1 : /■• , • • - ‘ • ;: ‘ v v TO-DAY’S FORECAST. WELLINGTON, This Day. The Government Meteorologist, at noon to-day, issued the following statement regarding the weather : General situation: An anticyclone is located east of New Zealand while a low pressure trough is crossing the S'outli Island. The forecast for the east coast of the South Island from Blenheim to Oamaru is as follows- . . Fresh southerly winds moderating and becoming variable to-morrow. Weather cloudy to overcast, with occasional rain, but improving from the south during to-morrow. Cool temperatures. Seas moderate.