CITY WELL WATERED

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 60, 8 September 1941, Page 8

CITY WELL WATERED

MILLIONS OF TONS

TEN WEEKS OF WET

| Saturday's forecast for steady rain, jwi,th the probability of some heavy I falls, was amply fulfilled. Torrential rain came first of all from a northerly I direction, and then the wind turned to the south, yesterday being one of those miserably wet and stormy days which have been all too frequent at the weekends for some time past. It was in marked contrast to the previous pleas-, ant and springlike weekend.

Saturday's rainfall was very heavy at times and there was some temporary flooding. Although the rain yesterday was not so heavy, the unpleasant conditions were aggravated by the strong southerly gale which persisted sill day. With, the fall in temperatures, more snow fell on the high country around Wellington. A number of minor slips and washouts occurred in many localities, and the lakes which for some weeks past have been transitory features of the landscape in low-lying areas were replenished. The Hutt River ' this morning was very swollen and muddy, but, although running high, gave no concern as to serious flooding.

There has been a' surfeit of rain in Wellington ever since the beginning of July. In that month between 6 and 7 inches of rain fell; August capped that with over 10 inches more; and September has made a good start with a further couple of inches or so. The statement that. approximately 19 inches of rain have fallen in the last 10 weeks will convey to most people the idea that Wellington has been thoroughly saturated, but there are probably very few who realise that that means that since the beginning of July Wellington has had 30,000,000 tons of water poured upon it from above! Believe it or not, but it can be proved by a little simple multiplication. An inch of rain is equivalent to 100 tons of water to an acre; the area of Wellington is roughly 16,000 acres; 19 inches of rain have fallen; therefore, Wellington has been bathed in 30,000,000 tons of water. Most people, except perhaps the sellers of goloshes and umbrellas, will agree that that is quite sufficient for the present. Wellington in the last 10 weeks has had nearly half the total quantity of rain which normally falls in a whole year.