NOVEMBER WEATHER

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXI, Issue 304, 8 December 1931, Page 9

NOVEMBER WEATHER

MARKED CONTRAST TO LAST YEAR. ACTING DIRECTOR’S REPORT Wellington, Dec. 7. The acting director of the meteorological office, Mr Pemberton, in the course of his notes on the weather for November, states that it wms in marked contrast to last year, w'hen November was the coldest ever experienced. The past month has been a particularly warm one, and in many places the mean temperature was the highest recorded in November for many years over tho greater portion 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 Nelson and the East Coast provinces. Continued dry weather in these districts has had tho effect of retarding the growth of vegetation and cereal crops, South. Canterbury especially suffering severely in this respect. Fairly general rain, however, about the 21st instant, was very helpful, and greatly relieved tho anxiety of the farmers. Unfortunately Hawke’s Bay received little or no rain. At time, in most other parts of the Dominion on account of occasional showers and warm temperatures, vegetation has made fair growth, for instance in the central portion of the North Island, the sulty conditions which had prevailed culminated in some severe thunderstorms accompanied by heavy downpours on the 14th. This rain was an immense benefit to the Waikato district and in Taranaki also, where rain was more plentiful, tho feed grew rapidly and there was surplus grass for the first time this year. For tho country as a whole, however, good rains are needed to ensure better growth in crops, and sufficient pasturage for summer stock, which generally are in good condition, especially sheep, cattle having suffered somewhat from the dryness in tho eastern districts.