WEATHER RECORDS: AUGUST, 1936.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 53, Issue 3, 21 September 1936, Page 190

WEATHER RECORDS: AUGUST, 1936.

Dominion Meteorological Office

Notes for August.

The month began with unusually widespread snowstorms raging over much of the country, and several days of cold frosty weather followed. Again, at the end of the month, there was a cold snap. The first spell did little damage since, after the rst, the days were bright and sunny and the snow soon disappeared. In the second there were some losses of lambs, but the ground was too warm for pastures to suffer greatly. Between these two periods the weather was almost continuously mild and spring-like. ■Grass has grown very quickly for the time of year, and trees, flowers, and shrubs are in an unusually advanced state. White butterflies made their appearance in many districts, and other insects were active. Birds are already showing signs of mating. Stock are doing well, and the lambingseason has, so far, been a good one. Feed is plentiful. In western districts and Marlborough a spell of dry, sunny weather would be now welcomed. . Rainfall. —Most of the east coast of the North Island and a strip extending across from Hawke’s Bay to Wanganui had less than the average rainfall. The same was the case with areas about the borders of Canterbury and Marlborough and Canterbury and Otago. The rest of the country had more than the average. Over the western half of the South Island the falls averaged at least double the normal for August. . • ■ ■ Temperatures. —The month was one of the warmest Augusts on record. Temperatures were everywhere above normal, the average departure being over 2° F. Following the snow at the beginning of the month some severe frosts occurred. Sunshine.— The total amount of bright sunshine was slightly above normal over most of the eastern districts of the South Island, but elsewhere was below. Unusually cloudy conditions were experienced in all western •districts. Napier had 169-6 hours and Tauranga 161-4. Pressure Systems. Cold, strong southerly winds were blowing on the 1 st, and snow was falling in many places, especially in eastern districts, following the passage eastward of a deep depression. The snow lay to unusually low levels, about Wellington particularly. Anticyclonic weather with sunny days and sharp frosts at night then prevailed until the 4th. From the sth to the 17th a series of westerly depressions continued to •cross the southern portion of the Dominion. Winds from between north •and west persisted and were often strong. There was frequent heavy rain in western and northern districts, but comparatively little east of the ranges. Temperatures were remarkably mild. On the 7th, after the passage of the first depression of the series, snow was widespread on the high levels. An anticyclone then crossed the northern part of the country, and, after moving south-eastwards, became very intense and almost stationary, with its centre in the neighbourhood of Chatham Islands. It was not until the 26th that the anticyclone finally began to give way. Northerly winds and warm weather prevailed most of the time. There were general rains with many heavy falls, though districts from Canterbury southwards escaped lightly.

On the 28th a depression appeared over the Tasman Sea. Developing into a deep cyclone, it crossed the South Island on the night of the 29th. This storm caused the heaviest and most general rains of the month, and the southerly gales in rear of it brought cold weather, with hail and snow in many places. There were also some thunderstorms.

Station. Total Fall. Number of Wet Days. Maximum Fall. Average August Rainfall. Total Rainfall to Date. Average Rainfall to Date. North Island. Inches. Inches. Inches. Inches. Inches. Kaitaia 6’43 15 -95 5; 12 40-89 38-76 Russell 7‘7° 13 2-78 4-70 71-81 37-30 Whangarei 7'94 17 2-38 6-31 49’44 45-10 Auckland 8-28 18 2-98 4-61 38-88 34-47 Hamilton 4’24 20 0-90 4-n 37-43 33-n Rotorua 5-n 18 1-42 4-91 47-50 36-76 Kawhia . . 6-6i 13 1-29 4-63 41-59 36-18 New Plymouth 6-87 23 1-63 5-49 41-45 40-41 Riversdale, Inglewood . . 12-22 25 2-00 8-89 67-63 67 • 60 Whangamomona 6-72 15 i-43 6-02 49’72 48-99 Hawera 4-93 ■ 18 0 • 96 4-50 31-87 30-11 Tairua 3-70 19 o-8i 5-84 39-17 45-71 Tauranga 4-38 19 i-53 4-30 42-42. 36-12 Maraehako Station, Opoio • 66 18 2 • 72 5’49 49-83 37’73 tiki Gisborne . . 2’43 IO 0-90 4-33 34'74 34-29 Taupo .. . . 4-64 22 0 • 87 4-07 36-06 29-30 Napier ... 1 -19 12 ' 0-44 2-95 38-83 22-30 Hastings 1-18 12 o-37 3-13 33-85 23-42 Whakarara Station 1-74 8 0-83 42-16 Taihape 1 • 70 22 o-44 2:74 31-7° 23-52 Masterton 3'13 15 1-25 3’59 36-27 26-54 Patea 4-01 21 0-77 3-81 34-24 29-44 Wanganui 2-21 14 o-35 2 • 81 29-04 23-85 Foxton 5-07-19 I -02 2-95 29-31 21-33 Wellington 4-68 20 i-77 3-93 40-51 29-67 South Island. ■ ' Westport . . . . 14’44 25 1 -40 7-70 52-12 62-50 Greymouth 15-09 25 2- 33 7-48 58-07 64-97 Hokitika 19-67 27 • • 62 9-24 63-99 73-29 Ross 21-47 24 • • 20 10-43 73’33 82-38 Arthur’s Pass 17-95 21 2-75 10-20 78-27 96-07 Okuru, South Westland 21 ■ 82 20 2 • 10 11-24 94-13 93- 80 Collingwood . . 16-29 22 3-13 7-n 65-19 62 -09 Nelson 8-84 15 2-33 3-06 28-17 24-86 Spring Creek, Blenheim 4-71 14 2-37 2-75 26-03 20-64 Seddon 3-io IO 1 • 78 -90 20-93 16-62 Hanmer Springs 2-04 IO 0-58 3-42 39-30 29-48 Highfield, Waiau 1-31 7 o-47 2-45 28-29 22-53 Gore Bay . . .4 1 -07 5 o-47 -64 27-14 21-31 Christchurch . . . .’ 2-29 11 0-83 1 • 82 25-59 16-99 Timaru . . . 0 • 87 7 0-56 i-45 21-97 14-43 Lambrook Station, pairlie 1-23 10 o-39 -53 19-24 16-13 Benmore Station, Clear-2-52 12 o-97 1 -48 16-03 -02 _ burn Oamaru 1-17 8 o-34 1-74 18-79 14-44 Queenstown .. 4'47 18 0-90 2-05 22-93 19-43 Clyde 1-23 ' 10 0-29 o-79 9-27 9-45 Dunedin 3-52 10 1 -09 3-07 31-45 24-13 Wendon .. 2 -08 10 0-52 2-05 19-51 19-27 Balclutha . . A ■ 28 17 0-50 1 • 78 20-99 16-27 Invercargill 4-20 21 o-68 3-20 30-18 29-78 Puysegur Point 9-72 28 0-91 6-94 57-46 55-35 Half-moon Bay 6-64 21 0 • 84 4-39 32-74 37'92

RAINFALLS FOR AUGUST, 1936, AT REPRESENTATIVE STATIONS.