BOISTEROUS WEATHER.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 148, 23 June 1923, Page 11

BOISTEROUS WEATHER.

HEAVY DOWNPOUR OF RAIN. SEVERE HAILSTORMS. The strong south-westerly "wind which was experienced yesterday brought with it heavy showers and a cold snap that made conditions most unpleaeant. AH day people darted with their best speed over street crossings to escape the frequent heavy showers or huddled under sheter away from the wind which eeemed to penetrate to the bone. The day was most depressing, and people had cause to wonder if it was ever going to be fine; again. The rain became more persistent as the afternoon wore on and at times the downfall was torrential and accompanied with a sharp fusillade of hailstones, which carpeted the roadways andi in some places lay particularly thick. The rain continued in violence throughout the evening and at seven o'clock this morning- was still falling heavily. As the morning wore on the weather began to clear, but although the rain ceased the sky remained dull. The rainfall for the twenty-four hours ended at nine o'clock this morning wae 1.05 inches, making a total of 6.62 inches for the ponth. The thermometer yesterday registered a maximum temperature in the shade of 51.4 degrees and a minimum of 41 degrees. Last evening it was as low ac 38.5 degrees on the grass. The barometer, which read 29.605 inches at 9 a.m. yesterday stood at 29.668 at the same hour this morning. The wind registered a velocity of 147 miles during the twenty-four hours ending at nlno o'clock this morning. The south-west gale hae made things rather unpleasant on tile West Coast since Thursday night. The Arapawa sailed from Onehunga at 7 o'clock yesterday morning but, owing to the fact that the Manukau bar could not be worked, she was not able to continue her voyage to the Waikato Heads. The full force of the gale was encountered by the Northern Company's auxiliary ketch Victory, which left Waiuku for Onehunga at 2.30 p.m. yesterday. When nearing her destination about 7 p.m. the violence of the squall carried away her mizzen mast which fell overboard, but was held by the rigging. After the mast had been secured to the vessel's side, the Victory continued to make for port and reached Onehunea about 8 o'clock last evening. THE NORTHERN HEAT WAVE, It is rather a coincidence that during the very week when the whole of New Zealand is suffering from what we regard as severe weather in this favoured land of almost perennial sunshine, New York is suffering far worse from an exceptional heat wave. This is rather unusual, for in the northern hemisphere the maximum period of heat does not usually synchronise with the longest day of the year, as it has this weok, but is generally not reached till July, or even early in August. However, this season appears to have come in under quite different conditions to the usual, and the inhabitants of the other end of the world had a welcome and early change from the bitter winter experienced last January and February. By a coincidence the first marked change came in at Easter, and although Easter was not quite as early as usual this year the weather was almost like summer in England. Newspapers and private letters to hand last month all referred to the beautiful summer weather, and the holiday exodus from London was a record since the war for so early in the season. During the Easter week the whole of England was bathed in glorious sunshine, and the unusual experience tempted hundreds of thousands to make holiday. To the favourite Channel resorts, Tike Bournemouth and Brighton, as well as to such northern favourites as Scarborough and Blackpool, the traffic was unprecedented. Forty crowded excursion trains went to one place, and all the special trains were accompanied by similar crowds by road, travelling in hundreds of motor cars, taxis, and charabancs, while the aeroplane traffic to the Continent was also a record, in addition to steamers to every port in France, Belgium, and Holland. It will give an idea of the magnificent and unexpected weather that ushered in the Easter holidays when it is stated that the underground railways rose to the occasion by planning to carry 20,000,000 passengers. But a month later the conditions were even more remarkable. On May 4 as high as 83 degrees in the shade was registered in some parts of London, a record for the last 50 years for so early in May. A peculiar point noted was the experience of an airman, who reported that at an elevation of several thousand feet the air was actually oppressive. Practically the only oases in all London were the various fountains, but small boys in dozens followed the watering carts to revel in the welcome shower that played on their legs and feet. If this happened early in May it is- small wonder that it has grown almost unbearably hot in the northern hemisphere by the end of June. COED SNAP IN KING COUNTRY. A particularly cold snap hae been experienced in the King Country during the past few days and in parts between Ohakune and Waimarino the ground iej covered with a thin coating of snow, : which i 3 still falling intermittently. In other parts of the district"a eleety rain hae been falling for several daye and the -weather is bitterly cold. SNOW IN CENTRAL OTAGO. (By Telegraph.—Presi Aseodatkw.) DUNEDIN, this day. Heavy rain is falling in town, and there is a show storm in Otago Central. All sports are postponed.