SOUTHERLY STORM

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22445, 27 September 1947, Page 8

SOUTHERLY STORM

WINTRY CONDITIONS FRUIT TREES BUFFETED The cold southerly storm which swept the district yesterday quickly disillusioned those who in the previous two weeks were of the opinion that Gisborne was to have an early summer After the warm, sunny weather of the past fortnight the cold change was keenly felt. A fall of snow 190 k place at Whakapunake, in the Tiniroto district, and this was still on the ground this morning. In other high-country surrounding districts, snow fell during the day but did not' lie on the ground Fruit trees, many of which are still in blossom, received a severe buffeting from the south-westerly wind, which was particularly strong yesterday afternoon. Gusts up to 50 miles per hour were recorded at the meteorological station, Darton Field, while the wind speed averaged between 20 and 25 miles per hour throughout the day. The wind dropped in the evening and as the cold front passed over the wind changed to westerly, and at 2 o’clock this morning had become almost a flat calm with no clouds in the sky. A slight frost was recorded at the Gisborne aerodrome. Travellers over the Whweyata and Tiniroto routes from Gisborne to Wairoa had unpleasant drives yesterday. Particularly at the top of the Whareratas the wind was so strong on some of the corners that any light car would possibly have been blown off the road, while driving sleet made conditions even more unpleasant. Only a slight amount of rain was recorded in Gisborne yesterday, and during the whole storm only -31 in. fell. The rainfall for the month to date is still very low for September, only 1.27 in. having been recorded, compared y/ith. the average fall of 4.40 in.