THE WEATHER

Hokitika Guardian, 10 February 1934, Page 4

THE WEATHER

REPORT FOR; JANUARY. :' V WELLINGTON, Feb. 8. General.—People generally regarded Januarp as a changeable and unpleasant month. It was cold and windy for ,( midsummer. To the meteorologist, also, y tlic weather was rather abnormal. This was due principally to the unusually pronounced develcpmenf of the summer monsoon in Australia. In the middle of the month a severe heat spell was experienced there. Air was being out from the ■ Continent in a ( westerly direction and had a pronounced influ- / once on conditions in New'Zealand. At j one stage, also, from the 18tli to the * 20th, a good deal of bush 'fire • smoke>_jjr was being brought over.-Heavy, rains " in the eastern parts of the South is- . land caused a great improvement in the . ■ condition of crops land pastures. Unfortunately, considerable local damage was done to wheat crops by hailstorms and in some cases the plants were ,' i; ,f •borne down by file rain. Around Nelson and in the interior . of. Marlborougli, rain is . still very , badly a shortage of winter feed being threat- . L : ened. The precipitation at the latter end of the monlh improved prospects in Taranaki and tho Waikato, where - v ? food is generally abundant. Elsewhere conditions are not quite ,se- good. On ((.(>( the whole, however, stock are in very good condition; there is a. prospect '.of good crops;, and the' milk yield has. been fairly well maintained. Rainfall.—ln the (North . Island, tho heavy rains of the 28th and 29th brought the total month’s fall above • the average., in coastal areas from- Ea-; \ whia to the South Taranaki Bight, and in parts of the Hawke’s Bay, and Wairarapa districts. In the west some of the excesses were large. Tile remainder, y of the North Island lia c ] less rain than , average,, very' -dry conditions being ex 7 • perienced in most of the Auckland province. I '( ;

lii the South Island', there were very,.-,:. heavy rains along the east coast and extending ever most of the interior of'y” Canterbury and Southern Nelson aiidi Marlborough. Double the average faljr , was recorded-in places.' In northern Nelson and the interior of Marlborough, . South Canterbury, Otago, and Souths land, the situation was reversed; the (V:( totals being niuch below normal.Temperatures.—The month .was abnormally cool. In practically, all parts-, , the ane.n temperature w.as( much- below : ~ the January average. Particularly va? ’ (V this the case in the WaikatOy Tai’anaki, ’

and Manawatu district. On. t-hei morning of the 23rd' there was a! rather ; Widespread, frost;, which, .though only Ught, was .sufficient - at., this . ti’me ; of (;,((( the year tfi do considerable damage to—iE tender crops such as tomatoes, potatoes, y beans, etc; ( In the Nelson -district, the tobacto crop suffered severely in some v , . localities. ‘ I ■ ■

Sunshine.—Sunshine -was much below..; normal in the eastern portions of South ; Canterbury and Otago. Elsewhere; there. , . w.as .little departure ; from the. average, •:,-■( but generally it was slightly below. | Taupo repor-s 285.7h0ur5,\ Tauia-iiga : i i 269.0, and Lake Tekapo 265-2. Pressure Systems. —The first- stormy period began on* the 2nd and conditions . remained unsettled in the South IsiaiißLrw 'until the 7th. Bain was fairly general ' j in the latter area and there 'were some •very 'heavy falls in Canterbury. j the sth they were accompanied byT J thunderstorms and .heavy, hail, which: | did much damage to'-wheat' crops. ' :; v V i \ The next disturbed period was from , . the llt'h to the 14th, and was caused j by a somewhat similar depression 'to that responsible for the first..,; there were heavy mills' with some hail and thunder in parts of- Canterbury/ ;. ... . • I A series of' westerly depressions- between the 18th and 22nd, though. at most places they did 'not produce much. .. ' (.( rain, were responsible for some-.,rather ( . nnusi’al end unpleasant phenomena.' On the ?2rd, a number- of water;spouts, moyed in from the sea at Turakina in tne Raugitikei district. ; One of them W3s •. accompanied by very heavy, hail. Oth*r places also reported hail in that dayThe depressions -were followed by -' ,a' c sWp fall of - temperature and on r the 23rd. as has already been mentioned, (' ( : ' a Host occurred. The wen.'her again became unsettled d after the 23rd. At : first, westerly .depß? : s- v /E sions crossing the South Island caused heavy rain in the high levels, especially on 25 where there were thunderstorms _ on the west coast. Elsewhere there was - - ; comparatively little)rain; .At this stage. a zone of low pi-essureTday across 1 the ( ( contra] Tart of the Dominion, and in the following days, it moved very. , slowly nor'hwards. Though it, was not ' very marked, it .--was responsible for widespread rains ’oil 28 and 29. .In;(( ■(. the southern half •of the North Island and also on tho .southern side of Cook Strait, there were some very heavy falls, the greatest being in -Taranaki. disturbance-was of a very unusual kind--' and due to the already mentioned out- y pouring in the upper levels,:of warm? air from Australia It was hot till* after the end of tile month that the , ( rain area finally passed c-ff the northern ' extremity of the Dominion. Snow fell on the ranges on' several occasions during the month .