KEEN FROST IN CITY

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28414, 22 October 1957, Page 18

KEEN FROST IN CITY

Little Damage Reported Frost struck keenly in Christ-1 church yesterday morning. The Magnetic Survey in the Botanic Gardens recorded 6.1 degrees of frost and 8.8 degrees was recorded at the Harewood Weather Office. The maximum temperature yesterday was 51.9 degrees. According to an official at Harewood the hardest frost recorded in Christchurch for October was 11.8 degrees in 1954. Market gardeners and orchard growers reported no serious losses. Frost was much the same at the higher and lower levels of several valleys around Christchurch. Belfast, " which usually has harder frosts than those in Christchurch, was not badly affected. At the most growers there reported the loss of a few tomatoes. Yesterday’s frost was the first for almost seven weeks. Nelson Frost A late 11-degree frost at Nelson on Sunday evening—as severe as Nelson gets in the winter—struck outdoor tomatoes, early potatoes and vegetables in the city and district and blackened their spring growth. The damage done is considerable. It may be that fruit trees now in blossom and early settings have been damaged, although this does not show out immediately. Tobacco plants, which are highly sensitive to frost, are still under their calico covers before being planted out and they are thought to have escaped damage.