A RECORD MAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 127, 1 June 1938, Page 13

A RECORD MAY

MILD AND SUNNY

VERY DRY TOO

MARKED ABSENCE OF WIND

n Although the temperatures in May, v as recorded at Kelburn, were not so i- much above normal as the temperad tures during the three preceding r months, it was another very warm >f month. It was also remarkably free from wind. In several respects the month's weather presented a striking '■ contrast to that of April. April was '• very dull and damp, but May was very '• sunny and there was very little rain, r the relative humidity being normal. 1 The weather generally was very pleas- • ant for the time of year, and vegeta- " tion throve. H It was almost the sunniest May on record. The total number of hours of bright sunshine was 171.3, whereas *" the May average of previous years is f 129.9 hours. The sunshine averaged i 5.5 hours a day, or 56 per cent, of j the possible, and there-was only one day during the month when the sun 5 failed to appear. Sunshine records i date back only to 1907, but since that 5 year only one May sunnier than last 1 month has been recorded. In May, . 1930, 172.5 hours of bright sunshine • were, recorded, just beating last month's total. ) Although comparisons are not strict--3 ly accurate, owing to meteorological : instruments being in other localities, : it was probably the least windy May • ever experienced in Wellington. The t daily run of wind averaged only 148 • miles, whereas the n'ormal 'figure for ■ May is 214 miles a day. In May, 1870, the daily run averaged only 139 miles, but the instruments in that year, were in a more sheltered situation. The two • windiest periods last month were the ' twenty-four hours preceding 9 a.m. on the 6th - and on the 29th, the run of 1 wind on these two. occasions being 382 and 372 miles respectively. There was ■ a strong southerly gale on the mornr ing of the 20th, gusts of 70 miles an ; hour being recorded at Rongotai, hut at Kelburn the wind "was felt less ; strongly. During the northerly gale on the night of the 28th-29th gusts up to 60 miles an hour were recorded at Kelburn. HIGH TEMPERATURES. The mean temperature at 9 a.m. was as high as 55.2 degrees, the average for May being 51.3 degrees. The mean maximum and minimum temperatures were 60.3 and 48.5 degrees, averages for previous Mays being 57.4 and 46.4 degrees respectively. , . The approximate! mean temperature for the month, therefore, was 54.4 degrees, or 2.5 degrees above normal. ; This is the highest May mean tempers- ■ ture since 1917, when.it was 55.1 de- : grees. But if allowance is made for the ' difference in altitude (the instruments ' i»'that year being at Thorndon, on the 1 .flat), last month was warmer than May 1 of 1917, and therefore the warmest on - record. .... The maximum .temperature ' recorded during the month was 65.9 de- ' grees on the 25th and the.lowest minimum 40.1 degrees on the 9th. The ' average grass minimum was 41.6 de- j grees, 40.5 degrees being- the average of' previous Mays. The'.lowest grass , ,rrlhurtluiW temperature". 'Xvas 30 degrees j on the 9th, the only frost in the month. ■ LIGHT RAINFALL. J The month's rainfall at Kelburn was J 79 per cent, below the average. Only 87 points of rain fell, the normal fall for May being 410 points. It was the n driest May since 1866, when the total j fall was 70 points. Rairi fell on eleven t days, whereas 17 days with rain is the average in May. The heaviest fall dur- s ing the month was 33 pointts on the g 28th; most of this fell within a few c minutes. At the Karori Reservoir 91 r points of rain fell on 11 days, the ave- 1 rage for previous Mays being 447 t points on 15 days. . The amount of cloud at 9 a.m. ave- £ raged 6.2 tenths of the sky covered. £ The mean barometric pressure was C 30.190 inches, as against a previous 3 May average of 29.974 inches. The v highest reading, was 30.487 inches on * the 22nd, and the lowest 29.537 inches on the 29th. Lightning was seen ; on the night of the 6th, and there was fog early in the morning on the 17th. The first snow of the season fell on the Tararuas on the 10th and was visible on the following day.