THE "WEATHER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21022, 10 May 1930, Page 12

THE "WEATHER.

It is extremely probable that our friends in northern parts of New Zealand are making, it their duty to ignore any reports which may have been published in regard to the excellent quality winter, but not wintry, weather which lias lately been experienced in Dunedin. It can hardly be hoped, at least, that they will receive otherwise than incredulously the news that in Dunedin a species of drought is prevailing during the month of May when this city, according to northern tradition, is perpetually obscured beneath billowy drifts of snow or the Waters of Leith are hurling themselves down our thoroughfares in a disastrous cascade. Unfortunately those persons who have elected themselves the unofficial weather prophets for the southern portion of the South Island, with which many of them are but ill acquainted* do not pay any attention to the statistics regarding meteorological conditions in New Zealand that are frequently issued by a paternal Government. If it be raining in Auckland, by no means a phenomenon, be it said, the citizens perchance console themselves with the reflection that it must be raining twice as hard in Dunedin; and if sultry conditions are the order of the day the Aucklander is not reluctant to proclaim the fact, and doubtless commiserates with those in the South Island who must, ho is Sure, be freezing to death. A report recently issued by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research containing information relative to the average rainfall in New Zealand during the period from 1891 to 1925 would, if it were selected, say, as a text-book for use in North Island schools, go far to readjust any false impression that may exist as to the weather experienced in the south. Maps giving the mean annual rainfall for this period show, for instance* that whereas Auckland

is in a zone scaled to indicate a raini’ell of 50 to 00 inches, Dunedin is in a zone indicating a fall of 40 to 50 inches, as is Invercargill. Another informative map shows the average number of rain days per year in the Dominion, and here again Dunedin is seen to have a loss moist experience than Auckland, the figures for the former city being 150 to 175 days, and those for the last-named 175 to 200 days per annum. An exhaustive study of the tables and diagrams So thoughtfully prepared by Dr E. Kidson, Director of Meteorology, confirms the belief that the weather has not, in the last thirty-five years or so, conformed to the popular beliefs respecting it. Otago can boast one of the driest districts in New Zealand in Central Otago, but it does not seem that Auckland Province, at least, has anything outstanding to boast about when a favourite topic of conversation is broached. It is a regrettable circumstance, of course, so far as Dunedin is concerned, that the community must find it difficult to give itself over heart and soul to the enjoyment of the delightful Indian summer which it has been experiencing—a really unseasonably prolonged visitation—without apprehensive concerning the water shortage and the strain that is being put upon the resources of Waipori despite the deprivation of street lighting. Rain, indeed, has been rather a sore subject with us of late.