THE WEATHER

Hokitika Guardian, 10 July 1937, Page 6

THE WEATHER

MONTH OF JUNE. ' • ft WELLINGTON, July 7. General.—June was a very cold month and, in spjte of the fact that , oyer much of the. country the rainfell was ,belo\y normal, it was. also a daiiip 1 qiid in ntpsf districts. Except in place's especially exposed to the southerlies or south-easterlies which prevailed throughout most of the month, winds were not strong. There is, consequently, little drying and the soil is almost everywhere saturated vvjtli;mo sfcui’e. Work on the land has been difficult and a- smaller• area has been sown in wheat. After the first few days growth.of pasture practically ceased and the older material has deteriorated. Hand feeding has been resorted to to a considerable extent, hut so far there is no shortage of foo,d. Stock are, on the whole, doing well with the exception of hoggets, for which it has been-a poor season. The milk yield has I fallen away rapidly. Vegetation in general does not appear to have suffered and in many places flowering plants have done rather wpll. Rainfall.—B’ainfeH,, was much above normal in the’Auckland and Coromandel Peninsulas.. Part, of North Auckland had double the average and some severe flooding-occurred there towards the end. of,the'vmonth. The average was slightly exceeded also at- most places in the eastern districts of the North Island from East Cape to Cape Palliser. In the South Island, the only part to have more than the average were an "area- round the CanterburyMarlborpugh border and a strip along the south coast of Otago. There were large deficits in most of Marlborough, Nelson, Westland, the. interior of South Canterbury and Otago, and in the interior of the South Island it was a particularly fine month with few wet days. Temperatures.—Temperatures were everywhere belpw normal, the departures ranging mainly between one and’ three degrees. There were many severe . frosts, especially in the interior of the South Island. Snow, though not especially deep extends to > rather low levels on the rhnges. Sunshine.—Sunshine was much above normal :pn the'West Coast of the South Island and' somewhat above, also, in Nelson and Blenheim and the southern portion of the South Island. At Waipoua, on the-',western £idp of the Auckland Peninslua} more than* average was recorded, doubtless owing to the. absence of ■ r .w.eat.efjY.^yiDcls. M ,. Elsewhere there was much less, sunshine than. usual. Blenheim had • 176 hours arid; Nelson 160. Pressure Systems.—-At the beginning : of the month a cyclonicdepression was located over the western Tasman Sea, while pressure was low to the east of New Zealand. iV-pibis depression moved in a southeasterly > direction till it reached- southern New Zealand on the 4th. 'as a deep; westerly depression. Strong ; nortlierlips preceded it, there being gales in Cook Strait on the 4th. There was general rain . with many heavy falls. On-.the sth. came change to cold, strong southerlies, with widespread snowfalls. Hail and thunder also occurred in .many places. On the 4th. a: small, tornado did some local ■. damage at Uruti. in Taranaki. From this time onwards pressure was con- . tinuously- high over most of Australia •and particularly the. south-eastern portion: . As, a’result, southerly, or southeasterly; winds and cold weather were equally ;• persistent over New Zealand. From the '6th, there was, for some ■ time, little of .note,.. From the 7th. to the 10th. shallow depressions were pass-. . ing to;the-north, of. New Zealand, and on-the 12th. a westerly depression affected the southern portion of the Southilslarid. From the 16th. to 18th. a cyclonic depression crossed the cen- ; tral part of the Dominion, bringing much rain to the North Island, with some strong north-east -to easterly winds in the Auckland Province.’. On the; 20th. a cyclone developed off-the coast of New South Wales. This became very, deep and extensive and moved eastward very slowly. It crossed New Zealand on. the night of the 24th. Very rough weather was associated with its passage across the Tasman. In New Zealand it caused strong easterly 7 winds as it approached and was followed by strong south-easterly winds. These brought very cold weather and further extensive snowfalls. Several secondaries followed the main cyclone, moving from the north-west past, the North Island. There was much rain in North Auckland and between Hawke’s Bay and East, Cape, with flooding in places, especially about Whangarei. The South Island,.. except for snow on the 24th., was comparatively little affected.