WINTER'S GRIP

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23418, 7 August 1939, Page 6

WINTER'S GRIP

tL % NEW SOUTH WALKS record low temperatures SYDNEY SUFFERS SEVERELY \ tFHOM OUB OWN CORR ESMOND EXT] SYDNEY, July 09 The whole of Now South Wales was in the grip of winter yesterday. ; Frosts were general, temperatures below freezing point werecommon and at Sydney the minimum temperature of 39.5 degrees at 7 a.m. was the lowest 1 for nearly 12 months. ' i The coldest place in the State was Charlotte Pass, where a temperature of five degrees —27 degrees below freez- ; ing point—was recorded. < The cold was accentuated throughout the day at Sydney by a squally west to south-west wind. "'li'jfst night the thermometer fell below 50 degrees. Snow in the Southern Alps

The maximum temperature yesterday was 55.8 degrees at 1 p.m. The mercury then fell slowly to 55 degrees at 3 p.m., 51.3 at 6 p.m. and 49.5 at 8 p.m., when the last reading for the night was taken at the Weather Bureau. I • At Gilgandra yesterday the minimum temperature of 20 degrees was the lowest ever recorded for the town. Muswell brook also experienced its lowest temperature of 27 degrees. The reading afc Kosciusko was-14 degrees. at Kiandra 15, and at Urnlla 18. Quirindi experienced its heaviest frost for the winter, and a minimum temperature of 20 degrees. Snow lay on the ground in maiiy parts of the southern Alps yesterday, although no falls were reported. The State Meteorologist, Mares, does not expect any snow in "Sydney. There is only one sugh fall recorded and that was 102 years ago,- when a few inches covered the streets. Night In Snowstorm A message from Hobart, Tasmania, states that eight occupants of a service car had to spend a night in a snowstorm on Bleak Mount, Arrowsmith, when snow blocked the car yesterday. They had to spend 15 hours without provisions. A search party to-day found them near the summit of the mountain and brought them to Queenstown. Because of "the depth of the snow the search party had to leave its car when about hall-way up the mountain. A journey of two miles occupied seven hours. ' ■