New Zealand Gazette – 1857 – No. 30

Page 181

✨ Meteorological Statistics



THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE 181

wind in the Strait until overcome by either of the winds prevalent on the near part of the
East Coast, namely, the black north-easters, the south-easters, or the south winds; either of
these produce a south-easter in the Strait, and when the west wind is very light on the west
coast, the N.E. sea breeze of the east coast draws through the Strait, forming the fine S.E.
wind. The varied height of the mountains, the snow-capped Kaikoras, the extensive and heated
plains must concur to produce great effects on the currents of air. The N.W. winds prevails
with fine weather, the S.E. with bad weather; both often blow very violently, and succeed
each other suddenly. The appearance of the sky indicates the approach of the south-easter by-
banking up in that quarter, and by the neighbouring mountains becoming capped with clouds.
There is also a fine S.E. wind. The finest months are April, August, November, and Decem-
ber. The most windy and rainy are May, June, and July.
Thunder and lightning are unusual.

The following information was obtained from Staff Surgeon Prendergast, who kept a regis-
ter at Wellington:----

Average fall of rain in 1852
" " 1853
" " 1854
inches.
49
67 52 inches
39
Maximum amount of rain in one day, 2 inches

During the same period the barometer maximum, 30.67)
(At the sea level) " " minimum, 28.81 } Range, 1.86 inches.

The following Tables were made from observations at Wellington, in 1854.

TEMPERATURE.

Jan. Feb. March: April. May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Minimum. 56 61 56 42 34 32 32 32 37 40 42 42
Maximum. 83 73 77 62 56 54 55 64 70 74 78 70
Mean 69\frac{1}{2} 67 66\frac{1}{2} 52 45 43 43\frac{1}{2} 48 55\frac{1}{2} 57 60 56

PRESSURE (AT SEA LEVEL).

Jan. in. Feb. in. Mar. in. April. in. May. in. June. in. July. in. Aug. in. Sept. in. Oct. in. Nov. in. Dec. in.
Minimum 29.32 29.52 29.40 29.39 28.70 28.72 29.20 29.22 29.15 29.07 29.03 29.16
Maximum 29.99 29.99 30.10 30.45 30.61 30.15 30.07 30.33 30.05 30.02 30.33 30.04
Mean 29.65 29.75 29.75 29.92 29.35 29.43 29.63 29.77 29.60 29.53 29.68 29.60
Average Temperature. Average Pressure. in. Fall of Rain. in. Fair Days. Rainy Days. Frosty Nights.
1852 57.2 29.76 49.2 261 105 10
1853 58.4 29.87 67.4 226 139 --
1854 54.3 29.64 39.7 280 85 11

WINDS.

N.N.E. to N.N.W. N.W. S.W. S.E. Calm or Variable.. Gales,
1852 -- 225 -- 141 -- 29
1854 -- 221 -- 144 -- 15

e were fifteen shocks of earthquake in 1852, and twelve in 1854.



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VUW Te Waharoa — PDF NZ Gazette 1857, No 30




✨ LLM interpretation of page content

🎓 Continuation of Meteorological Observations and Statistics for Wellington (continued from previous page)

🎓 Education, Culture & Science
13 November 1857
Meteorology, Wind patterns, Rainfall, Temperature, Barometric pressure, Wellington, Observations, Statistics
  • Staff Surgeon Prendergast