THE WEATHER IN 1939

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22907, 2 January 1940, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE WEATHER IN 1939

Low Rainfall The MainEeature

SUNSHINE ABOVE NORMAL

Wettest Winter On Record

Lack of rainfall and sunshine figures well above normal were the outstanding features of the weather during 1939,. according to a complete meteorological synopsis supplied by the staff of the Christchurch Magnetic Observatory. The first six months of the year in; Christchurch were unusually dry, the driest, in fact, since figures have' been kept here. • But wet weather in July and August offset this earlier" shortage, only to be followed by "a . ver y tey spring. The winter was the rec °rd Temperatures during the year tended to remain below normal. =«jw In the following synopsis and tables of. meteorological data resisted f™ Christchurch during . mation is based on. readings taken at ■J. aon... New 2ealand Standard Thne The summary ' .Christchurch-weather during 1939 has been marked mainly by the lack of rainfall throughout the greater part of %SJ% a Zk Du " nfi * he firtt six months only 6.04. inches was recorded. This a * to £ l r i infall lcss .than half; normal, is the driest in the 38 years that records have been obtained here.-July and August, however, were much wetter than, usual—July-beina the wettest month ever recorded at toe observatory. This respite was brief, early spring being dry, and the situation was relieved only after a fall ™™*^ nc^? S u tow ? rds the end of November. It has been much sunnier than, usual. The total, sunshine recorded was 2015.9 hours, beinl 64 5 ; npurs_ above normal. Four months °M V - har .total sunshine below normal, the wet months, July and August, Showing the greatest departures. >--5sW' 1 s^ s out the rainfall figures for-1938 and 1939 in such. mannlr as tojnake easy the comparison between J?^,§ nd norj nal val ues . The dryness of-1939 becomes more noticeable when compared with 1938. which was wetter Wio«> U?l - Tabl ? \ fiives the figures for 1939 progressively it monthly intervals while tahle 3 shows the seasonal falls. In accord with the usual T»^.^K'" s H m has been taken .from see*£&F5 ee *£&F' 1 ' 1938 to February 28. 1939. seasons being then each of u?l cTansecutiye months. Winter which .was the wettest on record, is Hj.«J?fi y | eas °n.with a total above ££?*& a A - s '? dlr e_ ct contrast.- autumn we have had in the last 38 years, the nearest approach. being fcW" 11 ? SU 9 ? 1 2 nd 1931 each with &~\£2l s °l 161l 61 in - ches - Tabl e 4 'shows nS^SL 38 ?? in each month for £P?o!2 d * 193 ?;. 9 n occasions only haS the totals daily rainfall cr-riea one. inch. ■ - r T'W.es, 5. and 6 deal with air temperature.- Table 5 gives the mean monthly, temperatures as well as the extremes and the days of their occur♦en4ce^: F^om Table 6it will be seen ! ha tf? e l e w .as a definite tendency for temperetures to he below average July which was the second coldest on m^ - sh °wei the greatest departure. Table 7 sets out the wind directions as. at 9 a.m. Although N.E., •K.., and- S.W, are again the most fre--9T U 4: nt mo , rmn S Winds the number of »JL : winds has decreased, while there ftave keen more than usual from the east.- The number of N.E. and S.W morning winds still remains below normal, and there have been fewer calm .mornings than usual. , Table 8 gives the tctal hours of sunshine recorded each month in 1939 as wen as the • average figures for those months. Other interesting features not covered in- the tables are:—June was the warmest since 1921; July which was the second coldest on record, had two heavy falls of snow., ljin on July 18; and 2in on July 27; August, the most foggy month, was.also the.seeonl* .wettest oh record; September was the driest since 1927. and November was the warmest since 1934. ; Table I rainfall figures for the years 1938 and 1939 are as follows: .. 1938

Table 111 Seasonal Rainfall • Sum- Au- Winmer. tumn. ter. Spring. 1939 .. 4.54 2.36 16.07 3.15 Mean year 6.401 6.245 7.203 5.6D3 Per cent. 71 38 223 56 Table IV ' "Wettest. 24 Hours in Each Month - ,1938 Date. " Inches. January 22 ... .. 0.99 February 4 :. ." .. 0.59 - March 18 „.-"•.'. .'. 0.23 - April 13 .. .. 1.71 .. May 4 ... .. 0.45 lline 12 .. .. 2.25 Ally 27 ~ .. 1.03 AttgUSt 9 ~" ".. 0.37 ' ffiptember 2..;. 1.48 Smber 23- .. .. 1.15 ' fwrember 28 .. 1.23 - Sicember 18 jTI t. 0.72

Month. ' Inches. Rainy - Days. Y ■•■■ January '''"■ . 2.92 ,:. 9 130 February ' .. 1.21 .,;; li 71 March' . 1.35" n 69 i April . 4.95 21 282 •May .. 0.69 9 26 June .. 7.06 11 284 July-.;".-.. .;- t .V 4.45 20 ; 17 7 August: : .".0.94 9 5 2 September -' . I 2.35 4 . 122 October. ..2.01 : . . 10 105 November .'. ', 2.2a ■ 13 127 December ... 3.32 17 133 1 Totals, ..." 33.53 193S 145 ., Rainy' Month. Inches. Da-ws. Y. January Q.70 5 . 31 February. 0.52 9 31 March .". 0.72 6 38 April .. 0.88 5 49 May . .-.- 0.76 -8 30 June .. 2.46 11 95 J A «ly ■.;,-.". .. 8.70 23 318 August .: 4.91 12 263 September .. ■ 0.64 . 7 33 October .. 0.86 7 45 November .. 1.65 6 . 92 December .. 2.12 8 -'. 84 Totals .. 24.92 107 . "V %. Y equals rainfall for month in per cent of normal for that montl i. ; ; ; --psQ~_ - ■. Table n * January 1 to the end of aucceedirjg months:— Mean Per Month: Year 1939. Cent. January .. 2.23 0.70 32 February 3.89 1.22 31 March 5.79 1.94 34 Aptil .. 7-61 2.82 37 May ... 10.14 3.58 35 June.".-.-' 12.75 6.04 -48 July 15.48 14.74 95 August .. 17.35 19.65 113 September 19.26 : 20.29 105 : CctofaerL^* 2U.e. i. 21.13 ioo November 22.96 ."-:. 22.50 v93 December25.47 24.92 98