Severe drought takes grip

Press, 7 August 1982, Page 7

Severe drought takes grip

A severe drought has gripped parts of Canterbury during recent months. Dry conditions had af-

fected the area since last October, the chief meteorologist at the Christchurch Meteorological Office. Mr A. I. Tomlinson has said.

In some areas there has been below-average rainfall each month since then. In Christchurch, the rainfall for the last nine months, to July, has totalled 260 millimetres, the lowest recorded for those months.

The driest area at present extends from Te Pirita to the Hinds River. Within this area, rainfall has been below

40 per cent of the average in certain places. For some parts, this represents the lowest rainfall recorded.

In North Canterbury heavy rain during June gave some relief, Mr Tomlinson said. Unfortunately, most of this came in one storm, and was therefore of little use agriculturally.

By contrast, conditions in South Canterbury have become drier since April. Both Ashburton and Timaru had less than 25 per cent of their average rainfall in July.

In the foothills, however, conditions are close to normal with towns such as the Mount Cook village having rainfall to the end of July a little above the average. The dry conditions last summer were also accompanied by high evaporation from December to March.