THE WEATHER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17375, 24 July 1918, Page 6

THE WEATHER

STILL COLD AND SHOWERY. Though tli e weather was not quite so otormy yesterday as it had been for a few days, it nvas still cold and unsettled A. teen wind prevailed, and cold showers' foil at irequent intervals during the day ard evening. Jiady this morning the prospects ot an immediate improvement in tlio conditions wero not bright. There is stUl a lair quantity of snow on tho high levels adjacent to the city A. motorist who tried to get through on the Mam North road yesterday found from sft to sft of snow on the slopes of Mount Cargill near the school. A Ford car belonging to tho Telegraph Department and a large motor lorry wero also stuck in the vicinity. SUPPLY OF ELECTRICITY. LINES REPAIRED. Ihe linesmen despatched by the city elecc } , » lr * er Wr Henderson) to iind the cau io of and repair the break in one of the and hght located the cause of the trouble, and eftocted tho necessary repairs yesterday forenoon The break was r£ar the top of lUaiuigatua, about three miles from Waipori. It appears that the snow had caused an arc-over on the insulators, and the short circuit had burned about 10ft or 12ft of the. pale. The repairs effected are necessarily only of a temporary nature, but as a pile of spare poles is lying about half a mile from the break, permanent repairs will readily be effected when circumstances pcrnr.t. The men who were despatched ior the. duty had a trying time of it as tho result of the storm. RAILWAY TRAFFIC. OTAGO CENTRAL LINE CLEAR. Traffic will be resumed on the Otago Central lino to-day. Yesterday the 7.52 a.m. train from Dunedin went as far as Waipiata, returning at p.m.. The morning train from Olydc came as far as Ranfurly and returned. Tho mails from each end were convoyed to tho waiting trains bv road lhero were only two or three passengers Late in the afternoon tho work train got through from Waipiata to Ranfurly. Ihe snow in some of the cuttings was 15ft deep. Other lines, north and south, are open, and have received no damage from snow or rain. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION. Telegraphic communication between Dunedm and Christehurch was maintained without interruption yesterday, but owing to the limited facilities between Christ-church and Wellington messages between these places were subjected to some delay. Christchurch, had one quadruples wire" working with Wellington, also one wire with Wellington by the West Coast. These were insufficient to carry the whole of the business, so that it was necessary to send telegrams on from Lyttelton by "the ferrv boat last night, while the boat from Wellington n lso_ brought messages for transmission from Ohnstchi.rch. The wires on the southern lines were all working. NEWS FROM OTHER, DISTRICTS. (Peh United Pnisss Association.) CHRISiTCHURCH, July 23. Fortunately for Christehurch and the district generally the foar of frost last night was not realised, and there are prospects of the city becoming clear of snow in two or three da.ys. A thaw set in during tho night, and there has been a good deal of ram to-day. Reports from the country districts regardnig tho latest visitation are more reassuring. Most of the city schools have had to be closed. The Lake Coleridge electrio lines have ■held without interruption throughout the storm. This is probably due to the fact that tho snow up country has not been so heavy as it was a fortnight ago. Advice from Kaikorai states that snow fqll heavily over the whole country last night. This on top of the previous heavy i '?■ tho oarl ? part of tne mont h will , probably result in serious consequences to a number of pastoralists. Johnston's whaling party suffered a heavy loss. Their smaller, but faster oil launch broke away from its moorings, and became a total wreck. Possibly never in its history has the Railway Department in Canterbury experienced such a month of trouble as has been the case during tho past four weeks. At present it has several mishaps arising from tho weather of" tho last few days on its hands. The latest is that the Spring-field-Arthur's Pass line has once more become blocked, a 10ft thick snow barriei filling many of the cuttings. One characteristio of the.present fall is that the snow is soft and powdery, whilst the high winds which accompanied it Qansed it to drift. This is tho main cause of the accumulation in the cuttings. In consequence the running of the ordinary passenger train to Arthur's Pass to-day has been abandoned. Meanwhile a snow train has been despatched with a gang in an endeavour to push its way to Arthur's Pass. (Fbom Ot/r Own Correspondents.) GBRALDINE, July 22. The rainfall registered here for tho 24 hours ended 9 a.m. was 14 points. A strong and bitterly cold S.W. wind prevailed all clay on the 21st, with clouds and snow here. At night snow fell again, and at 9 a.m. there were 2| inches. Snow is still falling. Nine degrees of freet wero registered. -STATION PEAK, July 22. The rainfall registered here for the 24 hours ended 8 a.m. on the ISth was 13 points. A heavy gale blew up on Thursday afternoon, accompanied by sleet and snow, and lin of snow lay on'the flats in the morning, but soon disappeared. A further gin fell on Sunday morning, and lin was registered this nxn-ning. All the month the weather has been 'bitterly cold, and heavy threatening clouds are hanging over the back country. BECKS, July 22. On Saturday and yesterday heavy snow fell. There were six indies on the low ground, and it drifted some feet in places. Tho lulls have a heavy coat, and very deep drifts. The weather is still unsettled. KOKONGA, July 22. Very severe weather conditions still prevail here. On Saturday night four inches of snow fell, and yesterday a strong southwest gale piled it in drifts. There was another similar fall of snow last night, and a high wind, and this morning the snow is drifted in places up to four feo't. Last night was the coldest night during the past three weeks. The thermometer registered two degrees below zero OTUREHUA, July 22. A bitterly cold wind accompanied by frequent heavy showers of snow commenced about 4 p.m. on Saturday, and continued until a lato hour this morning. Tho scow drifted to s-uch an extent that it is difficult to say what amount fell, but probably six inches would be a fair estimate. It was one of the most severe storms experienced here for years. Twelve degrees of frost were registered yesterday morning, and tlio thermometer continued below freezing point all day yesterday MIHIWAKA, July 23. The Mihiwaka. district has been visited by a very severe snowstorm—the worst known in the district for a very long time. In the Blueskin end of the district the main road is blocked by drifts up to 12it. Tho junction of this road and the Mopamii road is quite impossible for vehicular traffic. The fences arc quite covered. Stock are having a rough time, and some of the animals I'iavo been fed by falling the bush trees. Tho sheep are now quite safe, having found refuge in tho bush. To-day a good thaw is setting in, and plentv food'is now available MIDDLEMARCI-I, July 22. Wild and wintry weather is still' being experienced. On Saturday afternoon there was a manifest tendency towards improvement, but during tho night matters relapsed to the former state, and on Sunday morning snow once more covered the ground. Tho fall thawed as tho day advanced, in spite ot frequent showers; but this morning lws found it back again. During th c two" days about 3in of snow fell, and tho violence of the accompanying south wind added to the unpleasantness. July has been a rough month, and more snow has fall-en than for many years past. Tolephon.if communication with Dunedin has boon interrupted«inoo Friday. July 23. Jo-day the weather is fine, and the snow has thawed considerably on the flat. Telephonic communication was restored yesterday. ALEXANDRA, July 22. Tlio week-end has breii tho worst Vxperioiicec! for very many years. Sfartinrr on Saturday afternoon a fierce, gale, acconipnniod ;it Mines by rain and 'at. i.imes by snow, continued throughout, the night. On Sunday morning tho ground was covered with about 3in of snow. Towards noon on Sunday tho ?now disappeared; hut in the. oveninrr the g.ilo again stnrted. accompanied by snow, and (his morning tho ground wsis white with about an inch of snow. At midday a thaw sot in, and tho snow has again disappeared from the low-lying ground. '

The ranges and foothills are heavily coated, snow falling in places where it was never known to be seen before by the old residents. This thick white mantle overspreading the hills and ranges recalls to the old settlers the conditions prevailing previous to the 18(8 floods, which were caused by the sudden thawing- of thick snow on the "hills. A fall of Bft of-.snow is reported at Pukerangi, near the railway gorge. The motor coach from Roxburgh arrived several hours "'te, having experienced very bad roads. At Jmiitlands the snow is 3in deep, and still lying. ' PEMBROKE, July 22. i'or the past 10 days v,-o have experienced very cold south-westerly winds, with snow at intervals. We have had two or three light falls of snow, but nowhere more than 6 2 m down on the flat country. Some 6in have fallen at one time up' the Cardrona Valley and at Cardrona they have had a Heavy fall. The snow is very thick on the surrounding mountain tops, but as the station owners had all their sheop down before ? 1 \?° dan S c r to the flocks is anticipated Moro snow has fallen in this district during the last two or three weeks pan for quite a mimbor of years, and we top' >— mOle hard fl ' oStS th ' S Winter than ? T y u feW , mi!kmon made their rounds in Christehurch on Sunday morning, and tho<=o who did so arrived late in the day (snvs the Lyttelton Times). When Monday dawned wiuhout any milkman's footprints in the snow it became evident that supplies were off and tlio position becamo serious, especially whero infants had to be provided for There was another defaulter as well, and 'a re-llv important one—tho paper runner. These I 3 l Wd h J ad I no h °P° of do ' m S their rounds afoot, ard delivery was undertaken only in cases where the deliwrv agent had mi;°f r - ,0 Ut hl * S f]i? Bread and meat deliveries were also seriously interrupted in most of tho suburbs Ihe cold, wet weather of last week culminated in a snowstorm at Gore on Saturday snow commencing to fall somewhat heavily about 2 p.m. (says the Ensign). The fall continued for about two hours, fol lowed by sleet. Snow showers felf during tho nigiit. and a light frost also oocmiod Dunn- Saturday night a thaw sex in but on Sunday snow showers fell intermittently all day. The depth of snow was never more (kn about throe- inches. The storm'a>>pna.ro<l U-. follow the Hokonui ranges from tho south, .-.nd reached tho Uaika-kn, and V, a-ikaia hiil?.. SUun-e to say, there was no snow af Erlonrla!,-- or Uyndham on Sunday but th« country between there , and tnr. h''"r, a;vl h"- , "- tvoen Mataura and the h;J!s a fairly heavy coatinf. A*.' Mataura or !--mx.ay morning th'-ro vae .-.bont .v : -no'n of snow, and about tho :•»-!«. s - Gor->, M vi.le anrt Rlverrwtlo. A*. T.urrwlcn and vy about 5m of snovz about 4:u at W.oikaia, and over 3in at 'Waikaka.