FORCE PREVENTING RAIN

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21386, 31 January 1935, Page 10

FORCE PREVENTING RAIN

—♦ — PROBLEM YET TO BE SOLVED The exasperation of some farmers at the continued dry weather and the failure of several south-westers to bring rain has led them to believe that there must be some strange force in the atmosphere which will not allow rain to fall. On several occasions the weather, in accordance with the forecasts, has changed to the south-west and heavy clouds have appeared, but no more than a few drops of rain have fallen. They have looked to meteorologists for an explanation of this, with the idea that the supposed force, preventing rain might be identified, but Mr H. F. Skey, of the Magnetic Observatory, said yesterday that the development of meteorological work in New Zealand had not reached a stage yet at which it was possible to collect sufficient data to discover the exact cause of long periods of dry weather, such as the present one, in which barometric conditions were confined to such a small range. To discover this, he said, the meteorologist would require much detailed information of the weather conditions westward of New Zealand, and there would have to be greater cooperation between the rather isolated observatories in different parts of the world, toward which meteorologists were working. The barometric pressure during the hot weather had remained within a fairly limited range, Mr Skey said, and the depressions that had come had not been deep enough to produce rain; but it was a hopeful sign that the range of the barometer was in the last few days increasing, and this might indicate that rain was less distant. A light south-wester, followed in the afternoon by an ea'sterly breeze, made the day comparatively cool yesterday, and the temperature did not exceed 73 degrees. The sky was clear and there was brilliant sunshine, making the day a pleasant one, particularly for bathers.