MARCH WEATHER IN WELLINGTON

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 159, 2 April 1937, Page 8

MARCH WEATHER IN WELLINGTON

Mild and Less Windy Than

Usual The weather in Wellington during March was mild with less wind than is usual during the month. The mean temperature recorded at Kelburn was only slightly below normal. Humid and mild conditions prevailed during the latter part of the month. The total precipitation of rain was much below normal, but it was well spread out and, with the humid conditions, there was no shortage of moisture. The mean temperature at 9 a.m. was 59.0 degrees, the previous March average being 60.5 degrees. The mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were 6-1.4 and 53.8 degrees respectively, previous averages for March being 60.5 and 53.4 degrees. The approximate mean temperature for the month therefore was 59.1 degrees, slightly below the average. The highest maximum temperature was one of 73.9 degrees on March 28, which is the highest temperature for this summer. The lowest minimum, 43 degrees, was recorded on March 11 and 12. The mean grass minimum was 50.6 degrees, as against a previous March average of 47.4 degrees, and the lowest grass minimum was 34.4 degrees recorded on March 12. The wind averaged a daily run of only 210 miles, the normal .March figure being 239 miles. The windiest period was the 24 hours ending at 9 a.m. on March 7. when a run of 506 miles was recorded.

Hours of'bright .sunshine totalled only 165.9, whereas the March average is 189.9. This was the most sunless March since 1924, when the total reached only 146.5 hours. There were two days during the last month when the sun did not shine at all. Rain fell on 13 days and totalled 222 points, the average for March being 320 points on 11 days. The fall, therefore. was 31 per cent, below the average. The heaviest fall was 83 pointe on March 28. At the Karori Reservoir rain fell on 12 days and totalled 235 points, the previous March average for that station being 325 points. The barometric reading at 9 a.m. approximated the average, 30.023 inches as against 30.027. The highest reading at 9 a.m. was 30.564 inches on March 16, and the lowest 29.601 inches on March 9.

Cloud at 9 a.m. averaged 8.5 tenths covered, the highest amount so far recorded. The relative humidity at 9 a.m. was 82 per cent., the average for March in previous years having been 76 per cent. There was a north-westerly gale on March 29. Hall fell for a short time on March 11, and there was fog on March