A DRY YEAR.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20427, 23 December 1931, Page 10

A DRY YEAR.

——♦ VERY SMALL RAINFALL. EIGHT INCHES BELOW NORMAL. Although a little rain has fallen in Christchurch this month, it has not been sufficient to do any good to the parched gardens and the farm lands over the greater part of the province. According to figures supplied by the Christchurch Magnetic Observatory yesterday, the rainfall to date this year has been 17.52 inches. For the whole of last year it was 23.05 in, and as the yearly average is 25.58 in approximately another Bin will bo required in the next few days to catch up to normal. In tho iast eleven years the firs'. 21 days of December Mere driest in 1921, when .09in fell. The next driest was 1925, when the fall was .14in and this year follows, with .24in. The average in Christchurch for the whole of De-c-ember is 2.63 in. Consistent Fall. That the rainfall recorded in Christchurch is fairly consistent is shown by the following table, which gives the total for each of the last eleven years:

The Last Drought. The rain that has fallen so far this month has been very light, there being .Olin on December Ist, .Olin on December 6th, .Olin on December Bth, .13in on December 12th, .Olin on December 15th, and .07in on December 19th—a total of 24 points to yesterday. Tho last serious drought year since 1902 was 1915, when only 15.69 in were recorded. The following table shows the rainfall for the last eleven years between December Ist and December 21st:—

Year. Ins. J930 .. i'3.05 192!) .. 23.56 1928 .. 23.74 1927 .. 21.3G 1926 .. 23.85 1925 .. 33.4 192-4 .. 25.35 .1923 .. 31.31 1922 .. 20.82 1921 ! .. 23.03 1920 .. 25.47

Year. Ins. 1930 . .. .. 1.75 1929 .. 1.10 1928 .. 4.92 1927 .. 1.36 1920 1.07 192--> 0.14 1924 .. . 1.62 1923 1.56 1922 .. 2.21 1921 .. 0.09 1920 .'. 0.52