HEAVY RAIN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 155, 4 July 1939, Page 8

HEAVY RAIN

LOW BAROMETRIC READINGS i IN WANGANUI SIMILAR REPORTS FROM j ELSEWHERE I The lowest barometric readings recorded in Wanganui for many years were reported yesterday. Heavy ram fell throughout the day and streams and rivers rose rapidly, indications last night being that a flood of fair dimensions would develop in the Wanganui River this morning. Conditions became stormy during the night. At Castlecliff yesterday at noon the barometer reading was 28.90 inches, 978.7 millibars. At 5.30 p.m. it hau risen to 28.81 inches, 979.0 millibars, and by 9.15 p.m. it stood at 2b inches, 982.1 millibars. The indications then were that the barometer would rise still further. Low readings were reported from all over the country, with the area of lowest pressure in the north. The reading at noon in Auckland yesterday was 975.8 millibars (28.82 inches), 1 while in Wellington it was 981.2 millibars (28.9-1 inches). The Auckland figure is the lowest for a number ol years, but is not as low as the reoerd for that city, which was established in July, 1867, when a reading of 28.73 inches was recorded. As the storm area passed eastward, barometers were expected to fall still further, indications being that New Zealand was about to experience a wild winter storm. The lowest pressure ever recorded in New Zealand was at Doubtless Bay (North Auckland), when the barometer reading was below 28 inches. This was during the Dominion-wide storm in February, 1936. Another low reading was on January 16 of this year, when a vigorous storm was centred in the south and a reading of 28.187 inches was recorded at Dunedin.