METEOROLOGICAL

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 March 1933, Page 8

METEOROLOGICAL

PHASES OF THE MOON. MARCH, 1933.

THE SUN The sun sets to-day at. 7.6 p.m.; rises to-morrow at 6.14 a.m. WEATHER REPORT Wind, east; barometer, 29.86; thermometer, 52; tides, poor; bar, considerable swell; river, normal. Rainfall. .20 in. AT OTHER CENTRES

WEATHER FORECAST General inference: —The recent depression is now passing away eastwards, but a cyclone is developing in th 0 north-west Tasman Sea, and is likely to move towards northern New Zealand during the next two days. Forecast: Light to moderate south to south-east winds. Weather line, with cool temperature. Seas moderate. Barometer, rising tendency. FEBRUARY’S WEATHER. The Dominion Meteorologist reports on the weather of February: — The weather in February was more appropriate to a spring than a late summer month in the prevalence of strong westerly winds. It was generally warm, with an absence of extreme temperatures. Except in lowlying eastern districts the rainfall was very heavy. Many places recorded double the average fall for February. In consequence, there has been an excellent, growth of grass in most districts. Stock are in very good condition, milk yields are being maintained, and crops are generally turning out well. Haymaking and harvesting have been interfered with to some extent by Hie continued wet weather. The north-westerly winds, also, interfered with harvesting on the eastern side of the ranges, and caused some loss of fruit. On the whole, the month was a very wet one, many places, as litis been remarked, having had double the normal February total. On the low levels in Hawke’s Bay, Marlborough, Canterbury, and eastern Otago, however, the falls were below average. This

was especially the case on the Canterbury Plains. On the average, the temperature was one degree above normal, but the departures varied considerably. February is usually our sunniest month, but this year such was far from being the case. Pressure systems: The month began with a fairly vigorous depression approaching from the west. Strong northerly winds blew on the Ist in and north of Cook Strait. Heavy rain fell on the west coast of the South Island. On the 3rd, a southerly change gradually extended over the Dominion and the depression appeared to be moving away when it suddenly deepened and became stationary. Rain became almost general, except in the southern half of the South Island, and from Nelson and Marlborough northwards heavy falls occurred from the 3rd to the 4th. On the morning of the 4th damage was caused in the Rotorua and Bay of Plenty districts by a severe south-easterly gale. The same influence that led to the stormy developments of the 3rd and 4th, resulted in an unusual type of depression forming west of the Auckland Peninsula, which did not move away until the Sth. Heavy rain continued to fall in the North Island during this period, and thunderstorms were very numerous. These began in the far North on the 6th, a number of animals being killed by lightning at Mangapai, and were very severe about Auckland and in the Thames and Waikato districts on the 7th. At some places they were reported again on the Bth. On the same day, Central Otago experienced thunderstorms and heavy downpours. On the 9th a change took place in the type of weather, the first of two severe westerly spells which were experienced during the month setting in on this day. Deep depressions passed on the 10th and 14th. Much heavy rafti fell on the west coast of the South Island, es- 3 pecially on the nights of the 10th and 14th. There was thunder in the Greymouth district on the night of the 10th and a south-westerly gale blew on the coast. On the night of the 14th and the morning of the 15th, a series of particularly severe thunderstorms occurred in Westland, western and northern Canterbury, Nelson, Marlborough, and southern Wellington. The amount of damage to telephone and telegraph services was almost unprecedented. Power lines, also, suffered considerably. At one place in North Canterbury several horses were killed. The Waimakariri River was in flood, and the west coast rivers were high. There was an interruption to the westerly weather from the 19th to the 22nd while a depression of cyclonic form developed in the Tasman Sea and crossed the South Island. But on the 23rd the westerlies again took charge and continued until the 26th. Rivers once more became high on the west coast, and on the night of the 24th to the 25th, severe thunderstorms were again experienced. From the 18th onward, conditions were disturbed in the Pacific Islands, and by the 25th a cyclone was moving through the Tonga Group. This cyclone led to an interruption of the westerly type of weather and on the 28th a secondary cyclone developed just north of the Auckland Peninsula. Heavy rain fell on this day in the east coast districts of the North Island and in the far north. Thunderstorms have already been mentioned several times, and numbers occurred on the last two days of the month. On the 27th one did considerable damage in North Auckland. There were few days, indeed, that were entirely free from thunderstorms, Small tornadoes occurred, also, at several places.

First quarter 4 th 9.53 p.m. Full moon 12th 2.16 p.m. Last quarter 19 th 8.35 a.m. New moon 26th 2.50 p.m.

(From readings taken at 9 a.m.). Ther Station Wind Weather Bar Manukau Heads SW. overeast 29.ST (19 ('apo Bgmont SW. cloudy 29.S9 <19 Wanganui NW. blue sky 29.9;’. (12 Wellington SSE. overeast. 29.S9 51 Cape Campbell S. cloudy 29.92 Farewell Spit SW. blue sky 29.S2 tit) West port. Calm cloudy 29.S3 Arthur’s 1’ass Calm cloudy — 41 Christ church SW. overcast. 29.91 51 Dunedin SW. blue sky 29.ST ■» •» Puysegur Point wsw. overcast 29.9T 51 Bluff SW. cloudy 29.8T 53