AUCKLAND'S RAINFALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18664, 21 March 1924, Page 11

AUCKLAND'S RAINFALL.

DRY SUMMERS IN THE PAST.

RETROSPECT AND. WARNING. BT H. E. GLASSON. A good many people seem to think that the summer now ending has been an unusually dry one, though this opinion is n.it borne out by statistics. The rainfall in Albert Park for the past three months was : December, 2.01 in.; January, 3.85 in. ; February, 4.77 in. This is more than two inches above the previous average, which, as given lately in the Herald, is : December, 2.82 in., January, 2.57 in., February, 2.96 in .; average for the three months, 8.35 in.

At Karaka, about 20 miles from Auckland, where I have kept the rainfall records for the past 13 years, showing an average annual fall some inches below the average for Auckland during the same period, the j figures for this summer are : December, 2.44 in.. January, 2.28 in., February, 3.53 in. : This is pretty* near the average for the previous 12 years. The fact is that newcomers and the younger settlers generally do not know what our climate is capable of in the way of dry spells. Since 1914, the last "really dry year but one, previous records have been broken and averages have become obsolete, at all events in Auckland.. For instance, the total of 54in. and a fraction in 1907 was officially stated to, be the heaviest on record. It. has been several times exceeded since 1914. During recent years the Meteorological Department seems to have unearthed a 60 odd years-old record of over 62in., which held the maximum place till 1916, when fit was exceeded by about 4fn. This total of over 66in. was far surpassed the following year, with over 73in. My totals during those two years were, roughly, 59in. and 64i:n. ; The last summer that was dry throughput was in 1915-16, when my gauge showed. a total of 5.26 in. for the three strictly summer months, December, January, and February. Auckland had just over 2in. in January, 1916, and in February, a very hot month, just over Even that was moist compared with several summers further back. The longest and worst period of dry weather in comparatively recent times Began early in August, 1914, and lasted till about" January 29 following. i My records show a remarkably even fall of between lin. and 2in. for every one of the last five months of 1914, maing a total of 7.43 in. Up to January 28, 19*5, about another inch fell. There was rather a severe spell of dry weather, in the late summer and autumn of 1919, and another in the following spring and summer. But since the early part of 1916 nearly every summer has i/een very wet, as 1916-17, when over 21in. fell in three months, or moderately rainy, as a whole, notwithstanding drv spells. This hAS induced many settlers to believe that they can rely on a continuance of such seasons, so that they can | go on feeding their stock on ~rass alone. A look at some of the old meteorological records should enlighten them about this.

Probably the worst drought in t,he Auckland district that anyone now jiving can remember was in 1886-87. The official rainfall figures for Auckland were: November, .. 1.41 in. . December, .25in. ; January,' 1.29 in. ; February, 3.07 in.; ■• March,' .BOin. ; April. 1.98 in. ; total for six months, B.Boin. That summer was " excessively hot, , especially January; far more so than any since then, except ISO9IO.

Thero was another drought in 1890, lasting through January and February to the latter part of March. The rainfall in January was .97in., and in February only .07in.

In the summer of 1895 96 there were four months with a total of considerably less than 4ih. of rain. The figures are: December, .99in.; January .87in. : February, .74in. ; March. I.i Bin.: a. total for the four months of only 3.38 in. The summer of 1899-1900 was also very dry, the rainfall being : December, *34i,n.; (January, ,84in. ; February, 1.60 in. : March, 1.52 in. ; total for four months, 4.30 in. January and February, 1902, were again very dry —less than an inch and a half, if I remember right. Other dry periods occurred in the early months of 1911 and 1913.

The worst drought ever experienced in New Zealand as a whole, according to the Government meteorologist, was during the summer of 1907-8." In Auckland it was severe, but comparatively short. After splendid warm rains in December a drought set in and lasted till about March 7. The rainfall at Auckland in January. 1908. was .45ui., and in February .54in. There was a dry spell the following year—deficient rainfall in January, none at all in Feb-ruary-the only rainless month, it appears, ever recorded in Auckland.

Since then we havo had dry periods, but nothing, except in 1914-15, comparable ir. severity to the droughts in the '80's and '90's of - last century: All the. same, it is pretty certain there will Ik 1 a recurrence of the same con cli lions sooner or later. Therefore, it will be well for settlers in . general, and especially dairy farmers, to take warping in time. The same should apply to city councils and similar bodies entrusted with , the management and control of water supplies.