WILD WEATHER

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 173, 10 April 1923, Page 8

WILD WEATHER

DAMAGE BY HAIL DOZENS OF BUILDINGS FLOODED

A phenomenally heavy fall of hail at an early 'hour yesterday morning was responsible for a good deal of temporary damage to the contents of many buildings in Wellington, and as a result the plumbers’ telephones were kept busy the whole of the morning. The damage done in most cases was no reflection on the soundness or otherwise of the roofs, but was the direct result of the gutters and gully traps becoming choked with hail. Tn the case of parapeted buildings the space inside the parapet became loaded up with hail, and so prevented the water getting awav. When the hail melted or rain fell, the only outlet was to soak through the sheets of iron, where they overlapped, and in that wav considerable damage was done. There were several cases, in residences and boarding-houses where people awoke to find their beds soaking wet, an exceedinely unpleasant experience on such a bitter cold night. The weather was so cold yesterday that piles of hail were observed in sheltered spots late in the afternoon. A Press Association telegram from Christchurch reports that an almost unprecedented southerly storm for early April swept the citv anti countrv on Sunday, rain and hail falling, with brief intervals, throughout the night. The weather was still bleak yesterday, and there were no signs of it clearing up. The storm had delayed shipping considerably. On Saturday night a gale raged at Dunedin with occasional showers, and on Sunday there. was a rain squall with light snow- covering the hills, the wind varying from south to suth-west. The wind dropped at night, but the weather yesterday was still wintry. Otago Central "reports a similar storm, tho mountains being snow-clad to the foot of the hills. Exceptionally cold weather was experienced at Palmerston North during th© week-end, and on Sunday night there was a somewhat heavy fall of snow on the hills near town. Southern Hawke’s Bay also had a wintry snap over the week-end. and a heavy southerly, with rain, culminated in snow, the mountains and foothills being thickly coated. Snow also fell in various parts on low-lying country.