DRY WEATHER SPELL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18584, 17 December 1923, Page 8

DRY WEATHER SPELL.

'-■ z'K " < ' -i'".? .; • ■ THE GENERAL CAUSES. .. . NO 1 SIGNS OF A CHANGE, : •— ■:&■ m MK. VINCENT'S OBSERVATIONS, -• •'•■.: v -. : ; - v . • '&s['*:;--.•«.; The prolonged spell of dry weather now%. being experienced , throughout most of th«'M Dominion, and especially the North ? Island, is primarily due to the persistency of a relatively high barometric pressure IS system centred in the north, writes Mr. jH. M. Vincent. This system is bounded * on its northern extremity by tropical low,! I pressure waves or depressions, which ara • causing general rain in the Islands. A | series of Antarctic disturbances of more or 5 less minor nature are traversing the ex- t treme south of New Zealand, being "fed"? I by the high-pressure located in northern -,: areas. _ While these conditions contimia there is no likelihood of a substantial rain- : . fall, for ftropical influences are an import- :f ant factor in the development of rainstorms, and these are entirely absent at present. There is no known law in meteorology whereby it would be possible to forecast accurately several months ahead the dis • i tribution of atmospheric pressure. A cer- • tain average could be obtained from past records, but the results would not* be very satisfactory. Past experience, however, has shown that when these • condi- W tions rule in the early summer, tropical ' storms are most marked and intense in •. the later summer months, bringing copious rains, and this , is likely to be the case ; ? this season. In the meantime, there is if no indication for a general change from 1; the prevailing dry weather, which is likely • to continue for some time, though showers I will occasionally intervene, particularly in | southern districts and the West Coast of ■ the South Island.

A TANTALISING SHOWEE. BAIN CLOUDS PASS. In spita of the threatening apnearanetf, * of the sky on Saturday the weather con/ tinned fine over the week-end. ' Saturday morning broke dull and cloudy with a fresh breeze from the west. A few * showers fell between 9 and 10 a.m., but! the fall was so light that it was not noticeable shortly after when the weather , cleared, and it remained line up to a late 1 hour yesterday. , < • $ Rain has fallen only on three occasions i' since November 25, the showers on eachl occasion being light. Up to 9 a.m. on I Saturday the fall for the' monfn was .3.2 in, The driest December in Auckland was In'vft 1897, when only .13in. fell. , The highest « rainfall for December was in 1916, when p; the total fall was 8.59 in. The average iift'M this month is 2.82ia. Last December wan *S the third wettest month of that year. the W fall 'being 5.99 in barometer has varied more during- I th© week-end than it had done for over two weeks. The average reading this M month has been about 30.30 in., and on v Friday night the reading was 30.25 in. AtrSl an early hoar on Saturday the barometer ' 5 began, to fall, and by 2 p.m. yesterday ibi# registered : 30.05 in.. - the lowest readme since November 27. It remained pra£ tically steady last night. j,