WELLINGTON SWELTERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26659, 3 January 1948, Page 4

WELLINGTON SWELTERS

ALMOST EIGHTY DEGREES P.A. WELLINGTON, Jan. 2.

To-day was the hottest day experienced in Wellington this summer, with a maximum temperature of 79.3 degrees, Temperatures rose rapidly from early in the morning, and between noon and 3 p.m. the thermometer was fluctuating up near the 80-degree mark. Though 79.3 degrees is several degrees higher than any temperature recorded this summer, it is lower than last summer’s record of 82.2 degrees. For the greater part of the morning, not a breath of wind stirred the waters of the harbour. The city and suburbs lay sweltering beneath a cloudless sky, while the heat , increased steadily. A light southerly breeze, which sprang up suddenly about 10.30 a.m., was welcomed by most people as a pleasant relief from what would probably have been a record hot day. Yachtsmen were up early to make the most of the sunshine, and white sails moving gently across the blue water completed a summer idyll. With the early promise of fine weather and a fine forecast, huge crowds left the city in the morning, and some suburban beaches were crowded by 10 a.m.