THE WEATHER

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21119, 21 March 1934, Page 9

THE WEATHER

Sir.- I should like io take your venders' attention, oil' the earthquakes .' and centre it more on the weather. : Earthquakes it re uncanny things and J can never be depended on to la. !, ,' whereas we are generally sonv ] kind of weather, and it proves a ureal. ! stand-by when we arc hard up tor I .something to discuss. T nolic- that a : local Fruit Growers' Association look ■. up the sub.ieet of weather siyns on j Saturdav niuht. Tit is interested me: ; I'or J have done my own forecast in;; j fur years, often with disastrous re- i suits. However, it is quicker than j loucing up a newspaper. Newspaper forecasts arc generally too well hedged in to make mistakes, and to me they read this way: "Northerly winds proh- j able, hut possibly soulhcrlies will pre- I vni!, though certain indications point I to calm." A certain professor, whos-' j lather was a sea captain, once said to j me: "What a tine thiny it must be for j farmers to have the.-e forecasts:" Rut 1 told him that r thought they were ! onlv meant for sea c;ipt;d:is. "No." he [ said. "They go out v. iien they a>" , i cady. if t'ney can ~<! out." t'oine to j think of it. too. farmers don'l stay nside if the hay is fit and the weather , signals against, them. One thin:; 1 hav • noticed iiboul forccustiny. The smns we can rely on iu not mal seasons Rive out badly when it comes to a dry one. We may get our rain just the same; but it is dry rain or very near it. The colouring on the clouds means a lor. The dark red, merging into purple, points to rain within 48 hours, whereas if the tints run to light or yellowish red, high winds may be expected. There are 'many other signs, all more or less unreliable. Some years ago one of our professors. [ believe il was p r ,- fes.-ur Arnold Wall, ki- eNplanou;; „i some length the habits of our nor - , westers and their inline.ice on Can- i terrnirv weather, and he ended by |

saving that when in doubt it was always' safest to consult someone who hud just arrived in this country J once sot into trouble with one ot our ! scientists over this same weather ant j | on this same page. He la.d it do ■; , i hard that the amount oi snow on tv , | lulls did not affect the seven y . i.f h* ! frosts on the plams. I replied that j j it would be hard to convince a can- , ! terburv man of this, and a «oud deal j I more: 'out I got badly worsted, toi Ik did not reply.—\ ours. etc. , March 10. 1!';;4. [