HOTTEST DAY OF SUMMER

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28178, 17 January 1957, Page 8

HOTTEST DAY OF SUMMER

Crowds Flock To Beaches

The highest temperature so far this summer was recorded ‘in Christchurch yesterday. At the meteorological offices at the Botanic Gardens and Harewood the maximum was 86.0 degrees, recorded about noon. Jackets were draped on arms or chairs instead of shoulders in the city all day and a north-west to west wind prevailed. Milk bars were crowded and the banks of the Avon attracted hundreds of people during the lunch break. The previous highest temperature this year was 79.5 degrees on January 12. On January 17 last year the maximum temperature was 92.1 degrees, the highest for the month, while the maximum temperature for 1956 was 94.7 degrees, recorded in February.

Records taken by Mr L. Toms. Oxford street, showed a maximum temperature of 90 degrees at Lyttelton yesterday afternoon. Humidity was 28 per cent. The crowds which throng the New Brighton beaches during the high summer were larger than usual for a week-day yesterday.

Evening Swimming Much larger crowds than usual visited the beaches in the evening when the weather was still very warm. The temperature at 7 p.m. was 76.7 degrees and at 8 p.m. it had fallen slightly to 73.1 degrees. Bathers were reported in hundreds at North Beach in the early evening with lesser numbers at New Brighton and Waimairi. As the evening cooled, the sea remained pleasantly warm for bathing, the water temperature at Waimairi being recorded as 67 degrees. Although Ihe crowds bathing were so large, there were no alarms or rescues reported by surf club patrols. Surf clubs kept a strict watch on flagged bathing areas last evening. Official patrols were on duty the morning and afternoon.