THE WEATHER

Hokitika Guardian, 9 November 1936, Page 6

THE WEATHER

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General. sjie fipt tgp, or elevep. /lays of October". fver ve^y. windy and' er cool butf otherwise the month was a very mild' one. Except’ in parts of the Wairarapa and southern Lay there has been a vigorous growth of vegetation and there is ample feed for stock, which are reported" to be in very good condition. The milk yield jn,proved rapidly and is. now high. The lambing season appears to have been a good one with relatively few losses owing 4 to adverse weather. As' regards ’ fattening, the condition of lambs at the end U the month, though on the .whole good; was somewhat variable. In’solne place- the . grass was stall ritther soft. In this respect, however, conditions should soon improve. Crops have mad© good growth, but the 1 wet condition of the soil lias reduced the sowing of spring wheat in Canterbury, , y Rainfall '. '! he rainfall exceeded’ the ■ ayerage over most of the • west ; oeast cf the South' Island and the Nelson and Marlborough Provinces, but else where it was below. , Large parts of the North Island and also* of Canterbury had only half the normal fall: Temperatures wer©. everywhere above normal In eastern discrisfs and the interior the departures were general,ty .somewhat ovei 2 degrees and else-; where mainly between 1 and 1.5 degrees. The lowest was at Hokitika, .where the mean was only 0.5 above normal. The relatively low value there was due to the .frequent ramsand its exposure to the westerly and south-westerly winds. Frost Were infrequent and not. in general, severe A rather sharp one occurred, however, on the morning of the 15th.; , ln the Hastings district, following immediately on a cold rain with snow, on the high levels, it caused serious damage . to fruit and tomato crops. A few days later, considerable • damage was done ,in orchards ih parts-of iCentral Otagp. There were several very warm* days. Sunshine. The \ duration of . bright sunshine was generally, below average, and especially so in' western .districts from Taranaki southwards. - A few places in the interior {fud the southern parts of the South islandhad more than usual. Lake : Tokapo recorded 227.6 hours, Blenheim 218.1, and Napier 213.0 hours. Pressure systems. During the first : eleven days a series of ( vigorous westerly depressions crossed tlie.'poniinion and north westerly or, westerly gajes were bloWihgtjh 'spue-;part or other 'a 1 most Ithi’OUg|lhif. s Tbo gMe ol' v f/he night of, umilhiiig; of tin* , 9th. was .pa damage whs in the Wellington, \ Canterbury provinces.’ accompanied by general Tains, Vyhicli were very heavy on _ the West. Coast ,and in the high 'country of th© South Island. Floods occurred on' the West Coast that at Greymouth being reported as the highest for 22 years. The Waimakariri river, also, was in high floed, ■e highest level exceeding anything •during the preceding 60 years. Many severe thunderstorms* were experienced during the Bth and 9th. On the 11th to the 12th the weather, changed, the winds turning to southerlies, which were strong about Cook Strait. Snow fell on the ranges and in, the high levels of the South 'lsland. Southwesterly weather predominated until the 16th, gales '.being recorded at , times in many places. On the 14th there was again snow on the ranges, and, on the’following morning severe frosts were Experienced in the central part of the (North Island. From the ; 19th to the 27th, the pressure systems* were much more slwly-movirtg and irregular in form. They culminated in , a rather shallow cyclone which crossed North Auckland on the 25th. Useful rains fell, especially in the northern half of tiie r North Island. Temperatures were unusually warm for the time of the year. During the last throe days th© westerly type of wea- ; ther again became established, me persistent westerlies were responsible or frequent rains throughout the month in western districts of the South Island, lmt to the northward the . amounts fell oil rapidly and oas- 1 tern districts were, of course, to a large extent shielded front the rains.