DRY AND WARM

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 138, 8 December 1931, Page 9

DRY AND WARM

NOVEMBER'S WEATHER

EFFECT ON CROPS AND STOCK

DOMINION SUMMAEY

In marked contrast to last year, when

November was-one of the coldest ever

experienced,'the past month' has been a. particularly warm one', anc at many places the mean temperature' was the highest recorded in NovemlJai- for many

years, remarks Mr. B. V. Pembortoii,

Acting-Director ■of tho Meteorological Office, in a summaryof the .weather for

tho Dominion as a wholo during' November. '.'" ■"'-'■

Over the greater'j>ortion of the Dominion it was also a.very, dry month. Taranaki and isolated places in the far north, and south being the; only parts of the country where the total rainfall exceeded the average. The greatest deficiencies occurred in the Nelson and East Coast provinces.: The continueddry weather in these districts haa had the effect of-retarding the growth of vegetation, cereal crops. in South. Canterbury especially suffering severely in this respect. • A fairly general, rain, however, about the 21st was very helpful and greatly relieved the anxiety of the farmers. Unfortunately Hawkes Bay received little or no rain at this time. In most other parts of the Dominion, on account of occasional local showers and warm temperatures, vegetation made fair growth. : For instance, in tho central portion of the North Island tho sultry conditions'which: had prevailed culminated in some severe thunderstorms, accompanied by heavy downpours dnithc afternoon.of the 14th. This rain was of immense benefit to the ,Waikato district. In Taranaki also, where rain was more plentiful, feed grew rapidly and there was a surplus of grass for tho first.time this year. For the country as a whole, howover, good rains are needed to 'ensure _a better growth in crops and sufficient pasturage for the summer. Stock generally are in good condition, espe6ially sheep, cattle having' suffered somewhat from the dryness in the eastern districts.;. .... ' ... Dealing with pressure-systems during the month, the report »ay» that November opened with dull, misty weather under tho influence of a small cyclone, the centre of which passed through Cook Strait on the night of the 2nd. During the first three days rain fell in most districts, the falls generally being only light, but some good totals were recorded in the Taranaki and Wellington Provinces.; A n intense anticyclone moved-oh to New Zealand on the 4th,'and from the sth. real summerlike weather set in and- persisted until the- 2Othj hot temperatures.prevailing at times. During, this period,; however, particularly from the 12th to the 15th, high temperatures and conflicting-winds between two anti-cyclone centres: were favourable to the development of thunderstorms in the central portion of the North Island.- On thq 12th: one of the most severe thunderstorms ever experienced passed over tho Waimarino and Waipttkurau districts; the accompanying rain .was abnormally.- heavy,' and various -places suffered severe damagefrom' land slips,, etc. .Oh.the 15th an-, othei'severe thunderstorm occurred,, this time in the Eotorua district/ and the heavy rain associated .with it flooded many of the creeks in the locality.

On the 19th the anti-cyclone which had persisted ■'for a fortnight at last definitely commenced to. move away, and;a westerly type of pressure set mand L?c6ntinuedto the closo'of the'months This period was very windy, north-west-erliesto westerlies prevailing)'backing at times to south-westerly, but rainfall was confined, chiefly to districts with a westerly aspect, the eastern, provinces continuing to experience 'dryand. wairtri" weather, except for occasional showers iv Cari^prbury,' which came with- the temporary southerly" • changes. . Such changes occurred oh the' 21st, 24th, and, et6th'/ and on the two latter tlays they were accompanied by heavy hailshowers on. parts of the South ■ Island coasts. Particularly violent downpours: of hail occurre'd'at; places in- Canter' bury on the night of the 24th, especially' at'Leestbn arid Seafield. At the latter place hailstones of the size of small hen eggs fell. -In both, iihese localities much damago to vegetable crops was done by this storm, and windows were even broken. Snow.also fell at this time on many of the ranges of the South Island, and a severe1 frost which followed the storm on the morning of the 25th was responsible for serious damage to vegetable crops in the Canterbury district, and also to many orchards in Central Otago. On the afternoon of the 30th Christehureh experienced a heavy hail storm, the hailstones being of considerable size, especially in the St. Albans area. Many other parts of the Canterbury district also had severe hail falls.

Except for the unpleasant local phenomena above-mentioned, and for a generally deficient rainfall, tho month on tho whole proved a particularly pleasant one. ■