BEST WEATHER FOR SIX YEARS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19269, 5 January 1931, Page 7

BEST WEATHER FOR SIX YEARS.

HOLIDAY-MAKERS REVEL IN LONG, FINE SPELL.

Not since 1924 has Christchurch been treated to such an uninterrupted period of fine weather as has been the case during the present holidays. After a cold winter and a spring which was as bad as the winter, holidaymakers feel that they are entitled to this fine spell, and are making the most of it. Each morning anxious eyes are turned to the south-west to decide whether the persistent nor'wester has decided to give way, as usual, to the rain-laden sou’-wester. So far ail apprehensions have been unfounded, and, on the other hand, the hopes of lovers of gardens have been blasted.

There has been no rain since Boxing Day, when only slight showers were experienced towards the close of that general holiday. The fall previous to that was on Dcember 20, so that, with the exception of one sprinkling, there has been no rain for sixteen consecutive days.

A rainless twelve days, from December 30, 1924, to January 11, 1925, made holidaying well worth while at that time. That period of fine weather was, unlike the present one, preceded by heavy rain on December 25 (Christmas Day), December 26, 28, 29 and 30; and was ended abruptly by heavy falls on January 11 and 12, 1925, which sent many city people back to their workaday surroundings. A violent nor’-wester made conditions unpleasant yesterday, but the heat was there, nevertheless, to the tune of 75.2 degrees. Those who still had the good fortune to be on holiday were able to spend their time on th<* beach in some degree of comfort to-day for though the sun shone at its best the nor’-wester had died considerably. At noon, the thermometer read 69 degrees. Are Seasons Changing? Complaint is often made that the seasons are changing compared with years ago, and to a certain extent the meteorological figures for the last decade in Christchurch lend colour to that statement. From 1920 till 1924, inclusive, fair to good weather was experienced over the holiday period, but from then on till this summer there has been heavy rain during the holidays for many days. It may be that this season will prove the brilliant exception to the rule of wetter seasons. Ten years ago there was fine weather for eighteen days of the holiday period. In 1921, the following year, there was a slump in the fine weather market, the uninterrupted span being only from December 27 till New Year’s Day of 1922. Matters were brighter in the Christmas period of 1922, there being no rain from December 20 until New Year’s Day, when slight rain fell on eight of the next fifteen days. The fine-weather period came a little later in the 1923-24 season, and a fortnight of freedom from rain was experienced from December 29. The following season, 1924-25, was much the same as its encouraging predecessor. Wet Christmas Days. Christmas Day has often been wet. On six occasions in the last eleven years there has been rain on Christmas Day. This was in the years 1921, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926 and 1928. It has been the same with New Year’s Day, rain falling on that holiday in the following six years: 1922, 1923, 1926, 1927. 1929, and 1930. Though Christchurch residents sweltered in a temperature of 86.4 degrees last Saturday, they have the consolation of knowing that that thermometric reading is by no means the highest in the last twenty-five years. It is really below the maximum average. The greatest heat since observations were taken in 1906 was on January 2, 1921, when 94.3 degrees caused an unprecedented exodus to the beaches and shady spots of the province. Other very warm days were December 29. 1912 (90 degrees), January 1, 1914 (88.8 degrees) and January 12, 1924 (92.6 degrees). Approaching a Record. If the nor’-west conditions continue for to-morrow and Wednesday, a record will have been established for the prevalence of such a wind. The “old man” nor’-wester has been busy since Saturday morning, and has registered up to 86.4 degrees. There was a threedays’ nor’-west period at the beginning of 1930, the wind blowing on January 1, 3 and 4, and then giving way to a rainy sou’-wester. The warm dose was repeated in that year on January 19, 20, and 21. The longest period for a nor’-wester to rage in December or January of the last few years was of four days, from December 5 till December 8, 1929. Then followed light rain.