WEATHER FEATURES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22191, 19 August 1935, Page 6

WEATHER FEATURES

CONDITIONS LAST SUMMEU VERY HIGH TEMPERATUREB METEOROLOGICAL REVIEW Features of the weather. in New Zealand last summer, with particular reference to the long dry spell, are dealt with in a pamphlet issued from the Meteorological Office by Dr. E Kidson, Government meteorologist! Tlio dry spell lasted from near the beginning of November to about tho middle of February, but even moro remarkable were the extraordinarily high temperatures experienced. There were departures from these conditions, notably in North Auckland, where heavy rain fell during November and December. On the other hand, in a number of places in Nelson, Marlborough and Canterbury there was no rain at all in December. In January the conditions were less severe, the rainfall being considerably heavier than in the preceding two months. Much of it, however, was of the local variety, often accompanied by thunderstorms. In one place there would be a deluge, while a few miles away there would be no rain at all. Floods in Taranaki In the North Island the dry bpe ji was broken in Taranaki, where a heavy flood was experienced. It still persisted in the Waikato, Hawke's Hay and Wellington districts. "From Hawke's Bay northward the shortage of rainfall, where it occurred, was mitigated by the cloudiness of the weather l n most of Canterbury and Marlborough conditions remained very dry. ° The dry spell was broken in February first in the northern districts and later in the southern, and by the end of the month they only areas still affected were Marlborough and the eastern portion of Canterbury. The occurrence of two or three consecutive dry months in the summer is not as a rule very serious, Dr. Kidson states, and to give a better idea of the severity of the conditions he considers the total rain shortage during the months November to Jauuarv inclusive rather than in the individual months. The dry spell might, generally speaking, be considered to have been severe where less than half the average rain was recorded. This was the case over a large area south of Auckland, which included most of £he Waikato. Similar conditions prevailed in southern Wellington, the Wairarapa and most of Hawke's Bay. In North Auckland the excess above the normal rainfall was high, reaching as much as 100 per cent around Kaikohe. Canterbury and Marlborough In the South Island there was no serious shortage on the west coast or in southern Otago and Southland. In Nelson the conditions were not severe either, since the percentage deficit was not large at places with the lowest rainfall. Canterbury and Marlborough, however, suffered severely. Around Christ-church and just north of the Canterbury border, there were areas' which received less than a quarter of the normal rainfall. In /Marlborough splendid rains fell in March and crops and pastures were restored, but in Canterbury the dry weather continued into April. Dealing with the subject of high temperatures, Dr. Kidson states that in none of the four months, November to February, did any station in New Zealand record a mean temperature which was not above normal. There has never been any month since rkords became available, over 70 years ago, in which the average departure from normal of the mean temperature, whether positive or negative, has approached that of Decemuer, 1934, and it is very seldom that those of January and February, 1935, have been equalled. With the whole period from November to February there has previously been nothing comparable. The most notable feature of the air movements over New Zealand during the period was the frequent recurrence of spells during which the flow was from between east and north. Tliere were some intervals of north-westerlies but southerlies were very poorly developed. This was sufficient to account for the high temperatures.