THE WEATHER

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 68, Issue 145, 1 April 1948, Page 4

THE WEATHER

FINE AND SUNNY Fine, sunny weather prevailed in Ashburton to-day. The maximum and minimum temperatures for the 24 hours ended at .9 O’clock this morning were 61.0 and 40.4 degrees, compared with 64.8 and 49.0 for the previous corresponding period. The barometer this morning measured 30.10 inches from 30.12 yesterday. The earth temperature this morning had dropped to 54.9 degrees from 56.6 yesterday. There were 3.5 hours of sunshine yesterday. THE MONTH IN ASHBURTON The weather in Ashburton last month was warm and dry. No rain fell over the first fortnight and alto-, gether only 92 points of rain were re* corded during the month, compared with 2.68 inches recorded during March of last year. This is well below the average of 2.08 inches for March during the past 33 years. The highest fall for March in the past 33 years was 10.06 inches recorded in 1941. The lowest was 76 points in the year prior to that. The 40 points that fell on March 20, and 47 points on March 28 were very welcome to farmers, who were concerned at the effect of tlie comparative drought on the winter feed, crops sown early in the month. The highest temperature recorded during the month was 86.2 degrees' on March 2, compared with 82.4 on March 16 last year. The first 12 days were uniformly hot with the temperature well above the 70 mark. The middle of the month was, cooler, and the last few days for signs of the approaching winter were apparent in the cold nights. The lowest temperature experienced in the. month was 32.4 degrees on March 20, and 4.7 degress of frost were recorded on March 9. The highest number of hours of sunshine recorded on one day was 10.7 hours on Maxell 29. Over 10 hours of sunshine was recorded on six days. The highest earth temperature during the month was 62.17 degrees. The barometer rose to 31.6 inches on March 5, and was above 30 inches 17 times-. OUTLOOK FAIR \ I The Government Meteorologist, at noon to-day, issued the following statement regarding the weather:— General situation: Anti-cyclones cover the Tasman Sea and the South Island, and a shallow depression is near North Auckland. The forecast for the east coast of the South Island from Blenheim to Oamaru to 5 p.m. to-morrow is as follows: Moderate to fresh north-easterly winds; weather fair to cloudy in North Canterbury, elsewhere fine; temperatures becoming milder. Further outlook: Fair. SUN, MOON AND TIDES * Sun rose to-day, 6.46 a.m.; sets, 6.24 p.m. Sun rises to-morrow, 6.47 a.m.; sets, 6.22 -p.m. Last Quarter, April 1, 10.25 p.m. New Moon, April 10, 1.16 a.m. First Quarter, April 17, 7.42 a.m. Full Moon, April 24, 1.28 a.m. High tide on the county coast tomorrow, 11 a.m. and 11.30 p.m.