WEATHER RECORDS : MAY, 1930.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XL, Issue 6, 20 June 1930, Page 430

WEATHER RECORDS : MAY, 1930.

Dominion Meteorological Office

General Notes.

The relatively dry weather which had ruled since the beginning of February continued into May until the middle of the month. The first half of the month, owing to a persistence of anticyclonic pressure, was remarkably fine over the whole of the Dominion, with clear mild days and cool nights.

. Low-pressure waves crossed southern New Zealand during the nights of the 13th and 14th, but as . they .were of slight intensity the rainfall accompanying them was. confined to the western districts of the South Island. On the night of the 15th, however, a secondary depression of cyclonic form developed west of New Zealand, and on the morning of the 16th was centred west of Farewell Spit. Fairly general rain set in at this time with heavy falls in places, particularly from' Nelson and Marlborough northwards.- ■ By the morning of the 18th this cyclone had passed away eastwards, and, since at this time an extensive anticyclone covered the whole of Australia and the Tasman Sea, indications appeared favourable for the development of another lengthy spell of fine weather. From the 18th onward, however, until the close of the month there was a remarkable frequency of depressions of the westerly type, which. moved along the southern edge of the anticyclone. As a consequence strong and squally winds between west and south-west prevailed during this period, and.there were many rapid and severe weatherchanges. On the 20th, 21st, 26th, 27th, . and 29th, there were sharp southerly changes, and thunder and hail occurred at places, while snow fell frequently on the highlands and in the- South Island on parts of the lowlands.

Although considerable rain fell after the middle of the month, the total for the whole month was everywhere below the average, except in the south-west corner of the Dominion, where a slight excess occurred.

The cold of the latter part of the month and the frosty nights during the first half had an adverse effect on pastures. Consequently, though stock remained on the whole in good condition, supplementary feeding had to be resorted to in some districts. ■ The rain, too, came too late to cause any appreciable response in growth of vegetation, so that the outlook for winter feed from pastures is far from encouraging, more particularly in the eastern districts. On the other hand, it permitted the carrying-out of agricultural work which had been seriously retarded by the prolonged dryness of the soil.

Edward Kidson,

Director of Meteorological Services,

Wellington, 6th June, 1930.

No. Station. Total Fall. Number of Wet Days. Maximum Fall. ■ Average May . Rainfall. ■ Total Fall. Number of Wet Days. Maximum Fall. Average May Rainfall. . ' ■ North Island. .. Inches. - Inches. Inches. I Kaitaia . . .. . . i-i 7 8 0-26 5-06 2 Russell . . . . . . o-95 . 10 0-54 5-92 . 3 Whangarei \ . . .. 1-65 16 0-44 7-84 ' 4 Auckland ' 2-74 17 0-99 4-50 5 Hamilton . . 2-63 12 o-73 4-54 5A Rotorua.. . . - v . 572 6 Kawhia . . 3-24 12 0-51 5-57 - 7 New Plymouth .. - 4-63 13 _ 2-67 6-23 8 Riversdale, Inglewood 5-91 14 ■ 3-02 9-82, 9 Whangamomona . . 3-27 : 8 i-23 7-°5 IO Eltham .. ... .. 3'7° 9 1. 0-67 0-27

No. Station. Total Fall. ' t i' • * ) k-'- S ! Number of Total Fall. > A i. Wet Days. Number of Maximum 5Vet Days; Fall. 4 . Average Maximum . Fall. - May Average ■s : May ' Rainfall. North Island— continued. - ; “C- ■ '• i J i LI; ; j fj it J ■! . Inches. ■ Inches. Inches. II Tairua .. 1-40 12 .. o-34 7-64 12 Tauranga 2-1 - ■; 8 1-50 • 5-16 13 Maraehako Station, Opotiki Opotiki o-6o o-6o 5 5 - 0-40 0-40. 5’70 - 5'7° 14 Gisborne . '. I-IO - 5 ' ' • 7 o-86 5-67 15 Taupo . . . ' . 1-49 7 0-63 7 4-09 . 16, Napier V. \. ’ ' 0-77 7 • ' ‘ . 0-48 : ’ ' .' 3'74'7 17 Hastings . . o-57 5 0-20 .. 3'33 18 Taihape . . ■ 1-84 ; ' 12 , ’ / ., 0-51 . 3-84 19 Masterton ■ 1-71 - - 14 o-34 4'0’3 20 Patea 2-56 ... 10 o-68 . 4'34 21 Wanganui 1-50 9 0-36 3'4 22 Foxton .. r-35 ■ 9 ■' rn 0-32 - 2-78 23 Wellington (Karori Reservoir) 2-68 - ' ‘ 9'7 -' - 0-89 ■ , . 4-40 . ■ South Island. 24 Westport : - 4-66 14 • ■ o-88 ■. 8-35 : 25 Greymouth - . ’ . 6-39 < 14 i-35 8-oi 26 Hokitika 7-00 13 ■ 2-36 9-71 27 Ross . . . . 8-57 12 i-79 9'73 28 Arthur's Pass ’ 5'53 ’ 8 i-6i 11-02 29 Okuru . . 11-40 15 37° n-6o 30 Collingwood • . 10-18 31 . Nelson . . 2-53 7 o-95 < 3-08 32 Spring Creek 2-21 5 i-95 . 3'19 33 Tophouse ; 3’88 . 10 . : .• ■ 1-42 5-94 34 Hanmer Springs . . i ; 79 ’ • 9 . 0-70 . 4-5i 35 Highfield, Waiau - 3'4i 36 Gore Bay 2-24 •13 .0-57 3-83 37 Christchurch 2-04 rr 0-67 2-65 38 Timaru ... 1-20 - • 9 1-20 °‘44 9 1-41 o-44 1-41 39 Lambrook Station, Fair lie Fair lie I-I2 I-I2 3 3 o-6o 6-6o i-53 1'53 40 Benmore Station, Clearburn 1-41 8 o-6i i-97 4 1 Oamaru . . o-86 9 0-42 i-6i 42 Queenstown ■ 2-77 ' 10 . 1-16 2-63 43 Clyde ... I-IO 5 0-58 o-97 44 Dunedin i-79 14 0-38 0-38 3'23 3’23 45 Wendon 2-01 11 0-40 2-23 46 Gore 2-52 18 0-64 2-71 47 Invercargill 5-00 25 o-6o 4-46 48 Puysegur Point . . 6-88 27 1-05 6-8i 49 Half-moon Bay .. 5'5° 21 0'8.9 '4'5°

Rainfall for May, 1930, at Representative Stations.