THE WEATHER.

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13298, 29 May 1907, Page 5

THE WEATHER.

Per Press Association.

NEW PLYMOUTH. May 28. lhe weather, . which haa been bitterly cold and bleak, lias now cleared, and the sc-a has moderated. Tliera were heavy frosts last night and. to-night. A good deal of snow fell in central Taranaki last night

GISBORNE, May 28.

The heaviest sea . known for years _ is running on the : cast, coast and. shipping operations tire suspended to-day. A fierca south westerly gale is raging. WELLINGTON, May 28.

Neither the ;■ steamer Mararoa for Christ church. . nor 'the Aloura for Napier, Gisborne and Auckland, "which left the wharf lastb night, was; able to get out of the harbour owing to the hiavy southerly sale which was running, with, a terrific sea. There is still a strong wind, and steamers arriving to-day report , exceptionally heavy weather. No steamers have yet left port- Some damage was done by the heavy sea to small boats in, the bays around the edge of the harbour, dozens of these being reported to be nixing from their moorings and resting places.

CHRISTCHURCH, May 28.

.. The last few tides have been abnormally high, and low-lying lands have been flooded afc New Brighton. The protection fences, erected by the Beautifying .Association, have been washed away. The gale raged all last night. In the early evening siiow fell to some extent, hut melted imnv. dkiiely. Not mnch raiti fell, but it is raining this morning, and the gale has abated.

DUNEBIN, Mdy 28.

During the gale on Monday afternoon a gust struck the First Cliurch hall, which is in course of construction, snapped , the bracea, and hurled the heavy framework of the roof into the middle of the building. No one was working there tit the time. The gale also ripped the ornamental work from the steeple of the First Church. The damage is estimaied at £l§o.

DUNEDIN, May 28

Although the seas, ap Ocean Beach yesterday were the heaviest 'known for ten years the protective, worlds erected by the i)omaiii Board stood, thus ensuring tha safety of St. Kilflai.

The heavy sea, which got up -on Monday, afternoon continued to run through tha night and yesterday, and at times powerful rollers crossed the roadstead and crashed upon the beaches, broke over the Eastern Molfe, of ew nigh into the air.after collision with the Dashing Rocks. The waves, ran in ii direction favourable to the northerly dnit of sliingle, and tlie surfline at the mole moved outward's considerably- -As usual, when heavy seas are running, the several drain ends'". were clear. The most notable alteration in the outline of the beach has occurred at Patiti Point- For many years . there has been, a considerable breadth of ■sliingle bank all along the Patiti Point, but, latterly this has been drifted away, and yesterday's seas' -still further reduced the bank There is now very little shingle between the grass on the North-East corner and the sea, and the. surf has run up the grass bank and smothered it with old. tins from the tip. Tlie beach is also narrowed again at the butts, and the surf ha? run up the bank and selit a little. water into, _ the tbr-ret trench. The''awful procession of ohA-ins from the riiVibish tip, mentioned by the Mayor on Monday night, was less awf pi yesterday, as the surf had bish into a narrow winrow at the limit of its run, and it would not take a vast amount of labour to bury most of it. The attack on the tip continued, .but there appeared to" be a tendency to protect it by deposit of shingle in front of it._ _ There was a considerable break on Patiti reef, and further out big rollers made an uneven horizon. At high tide the seas broke ovei the Eastern Mole from end to end in masses of foam, -and the. wash-over caused a» low swirling sea in the angle of the moles. There-"was a strong run in Caroline Bay and probably when the : sea- has goiie down there will bo an observable difference in the sand deposit. A quantity of small gravel lias a-da-in been spread for some distance along the sand. At hisrli tide the surf reached the esplanade wall, cleared the sand from 1 abnti't %he foundation of the woman's bathing shed, and flooded tlie corner proposed to be raised and grassed. The concrete wall of the old baths has l>?en exposed once' more, and the track beneath the cl'vffs lias been wetted by surf. The Irish reach of the surf all along has been more due to the heavy sea coining in on top of a snriner tide than to the size of the sei. as this was far from being a big sea for Timn.ru. The (travel pit- from which the reclamation i-s being made was partly filled wiHi shingle, and at- liiffh tide was fiPed with water, limiting very much the space available for the workmen: Tlie steamer Kaikoura- carried awav two pile heads on Monday night, and these were being fixed up yesterday.