The Star. SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 1926. LONG-RANGE WEATHER PREDICTIONS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17865, 5 June 1926, Page 8

The Star. SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 1926. LONG-RANGE WEATHER PREDICTIONS.

So many tilings are dependent on the weather, as Christchurch has reason to realise to-day, and every Saturday for that matter, that the science of forecasting becomes increasingly important. Of course, it is generally accepted now that the sun, as the source of all heat, rules the world’s weather through ocean temperatures, which vary less than land temperatures; but of course there are local conditions to be studied, and there is plenty of scope for the short-range as well as the long-range weather prophet. But now there has arisen a midway method of weather forecasting, which Cord Dunboyne has had remarkable success with. This takes the form of a series of extended fifty-day weather predictions, indicating principally when rain is to be expected. • The application of this method to the British Isles is all the more remarkable in that the climate of that country, like the climate of New Zealand, is more subject to variation and to changes in direction of wind. Lord Dunboyne, who has made a study of long-range forecasts since his boyhood, and who organised and developed the Meteorological Department of the Royal Naval Air Service, has tackled his subject from a new angle. By a series of mathematical curves based on the behaviour of the weather during the past fifty years, he is able, with information regarding conditions at the moment of making a prediction, to construct a chart giving expectations of rainfall for fifty days. It is an attempt at logical deduction, and although it is not infallible it has had remarkable results. It is, indeed, of more than passing interest to New Zealanders because it emphasises the value of compiling weather statistics on a more comprehensive scale than has been undertaken hitherto. Some amazing results have been discovered in Christchurch as to the recurrence of certain weather on particular dates year after year. The late Mr W. Guise Brittan was able to point to records that were quite outside the possibility of mere coincidence, and other observers have found that the past is a very good index to the future. It would be interesting to know if some humble observer in Christchurch has made a hobby of the subject explored by Lord Dunboyne, for the value of accurate forecasts is appreciated by every individual in the community.

As the present Domains Board will go out of office in August, its decisions on matters like tennis in the park are not very significant except in so far as they strengthen the case for transferring the control of the domains to the City Council. This fact is emphasised when one hears men who are not city representatives expressing the view that people ought to pay for their sports; that the granting of additional ground for tennis might interfere with the head of some problematical procession that might some day want to enter the park at this particular spot, and no other; that it would discourage private enterprise in the way of providing sport in the suburbs; and that “ the land should be available for the people.” It is almost tiresome to go over the ground again, but such views make it necessary. In the first place the land was laid off primarily for sports; secondly, those who use it for sport—whether cricket, Rugby, hockey, polo, basketball, baseball, tennis, croquet, bowls, golf, or even kite-flying—have to pay for their sport just as heavily as anybody else; and, finally, it is the function of the board to make the land available for the recreation of the people. It is to be hoped that the new Domains Board will take a more broad-minded view of its responsibilities. In the meantime, the City Council should be preparing a local Bill and canvassing the contributing local bodies for support for the purpose of taking over the control of the domains and paying the whole cost of upkeep.