THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 607

ABSTRACT of METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, New Zealand, for the Month of OCTOBER, 1868.

BAROMETER. TEMPERATURE FROM SELF-REGISTERING
INSTRUMENTS, READ IN MORNING
FOR TWENTY-FOUR HOURS PREVIOUSLY. COMPUTED
FROM
OBSERVATIONS, RAIN. WIND. CLOUD.
STATIONS. Mean Mean Mean Mean Extr'me Max. Min. Mean Mean Total Fall No. of Average Maximum Mean
Reading Range. in Temp. Daily Range Temp. Temp. on Moist. Ration Month (inches) Days Daily Force in Miles Amount
Shade. of Temp. Grass. Vapour. (=100.) on which Rain Month. in any (0to10).
for
for
Month
fell.
24 hours,
and date.

MONGONUI 29.917 817 58.6 13.9 32.5 120.0 39.5 407 82.8 2.010 15 850,14th 6.4
Same month previous 3 years 29.863 58.6 416 74.0 4.570 18 *

AUCKLAND 29.901 809 56.2 13.0 29.2 136.1 31.9 365 80.0 3.595 20 421.2 850, 2nd 5.7
Same month previous 4 years 29.796 59.3 377 72.0 3.032 18

TARANAKI 29.812 920 54.2 12.3 36.0 315 74.0 4.100 18 312.7 590,16th 7.7
Same month previous 4 years 29.840 55.8 387 74.0 6.775 19

NAPIER 29.770 1.088 58.5 16.7 35.4 128.0 327 67.0 1.960 12 314.9 720, 17th 4.0
Same month previous 2 years 29.953 59.7 356 70.0 1.080 3

WELLINGTON 29.773 1.173 53.0 11.8 28.2 124.0 10.6 310 77.0 5.720 18 236.3 490, 14th 6.3
Same month previous 4 years 29.783 54.5 289 65.0 3.130 11 and 31st

NELSON 29.749 1.141 54.1 23.8 40.0 312 78.0 578 11 130.6 290, 16th 6.1
Same month previous 4 years 29.650 54.8 380 71.0 2.845 9

CHRISTCHURCH 29.689 1.286 52.4 17.2 38.2 146.4 18.2 294 75.0 1.150 15 170.0 442, 16th 4.7
Same month previous 4 years 29.723 53.3 319 69.0 1.707 10

HOKITIKA 29.794 1.163 49.3 12.0 25.0 79.0 30.5 325 93.0 14.120 23 +203.1 649,16th 6.2
Same month previous 2 years 29.774 52.1 393 90.0 15.255 23 [+

DUNEDIN 29.701 1.187 50.1 18.0 41.0 138.0 237 66.0 1.234 12 190.0 620, 16th 6.0
Same month previous 4 years 29.780 49.9 263 69.0 3.117 18

SOUTHLAND 29.646 1.600 49.5 18.9 34.0 133.0 25.0 275 78.0 3.500 15 246.0 590, 16th 5.7
Same month previous 3 years 29.577 49.9 237 66.0 4.640 19

• Mongonui. Wind-gauge broken on 14th; no readings from that date to end of month.

• Hokitika. Wind only for twenty-three days; Instrument broken from 19th to 26th.

NOTES.

Mongonui. On 2nd, very high N.W. wind, with thunder and lightning; thunder and lightning also on 4th; storm from N.W.
on 14th-Wind-gauge damaged; thunder on 20th; prevailing wind from S.W. (fourteen days).

Auckland. A violent thunderstorm during night of 2nd, with heavy rain and high N.W. wind; strong southerly gale on
morning of 4th, with hail; on 10th, strong gale from S.W., with hail; on 16th, strong gale from S.W. with thunderstorm
during night; strong wind from S.W. on 20th; a slight shock of earthquake reported at about 0.10 a.m. on 19th. Very
stormy and wet weather at this station.

Taranaki.---Gale on night of 14th, from N.W.; also on 16th, from same quarter, with thunder; strong N.W. wind on 21st;
thunder on 1st, 11th, and 16th five days of fog; severe earthquake shock on 19th at 0.10 a.m., and several lesser shocks up
to 9:30 a.m. on 20th; a shock on 25th; a smart one on 26th, at 240 p.m.; slight shocks on 29th and 30th, and a rather
smart one on 31st at 12-30 a.m. The Observer states that, from the 19th up to the end of the month, scarcely a day
passed without one or more shocks. Stormy weather during the month.

Napier.---Stormy weather from 13th to 17th, from N.W. and S.W. Very stormy and wet weather at this station. Earthquake
shock at ten minutes past midnight on 19th instant.

Wellington.---On 8th, strong wind from N.W.; severe storm on 13th from N.W., with heavy rain, lasting all day and night; wind
changed to S.E. on morning of 14th, and not so strong; during day, wind shifted back to N.W. again, and brought fine
weather; but on 15th, very high wind from same quarter, very threatening all day, and at night there was a severe N.W.
gale, with rain, thunder, and lightning; on 16th, fine and bright, wind S.W.; changed again at night to N.W., and blew
strong; fine on 17th, with N.W. wind; on 18th, squally and dull; severe earthquake on 19th at 0.15 a.m.; stormy weather
again on 20th, 21st, 26th, and 30th, from N.W. Altogether unpleasant, stormy, and wet weather during this month.

Nelson.---Very heavy rainfall at this station during the month; severe thunder and lightning on 15th; heavy earthquake at 0-15
a.m. on 19th, also at 4 a.m.

Christchurch.---On the 8th, gale from N., lasting a few hours; on 12th, gale in night from S.E.; on 15th, very heavy storm from
N., with rain; on 31st, strong gale from S.; earthquake shock on 19th at 0.13 a.m. Rather stormy weather during the
month.

Hokitika.---A gale from N.W. on 15th, with rain; on 16th, blowing hard from S.W., with rain; fog on 26th; on 19th, at
0.10 a.m., sharp earthquake shock felt all along the coast. Fine weather during the month; rather lower temperature than
usual.

Dunedin.---Strong wind on 15th from N.W., and on 16th from W., with snow and rain, and on 18th, stormy, from W. and S.W.;
thunder on 11th; snow again on 19th; fog on 2nd. Fine weather during the month at this station; thirteen days of west
wind; very slight rainfall.

Southland.---Stormy weather up to the 20th, wind from W. and N.W.; the remainder of the month was fine and bright. The
Observer remarks that the barometer was low until the 25th, and high afterwards; there were frequent gales of short
duration; on 15th, the barometer fell to 28.322---the lowest reading on record; on night of 15th, there was a hurricane from
W.N.W., with the highest tide ever seen in Southland; the anemometer indicated a pressure of 341b to the square foot, and
then was damaged by the gale. The range of barometer in month greatest recorded in ten years, viz., 2.127 inches. The
weather was cold during the month.

GENERAL REMARKS.

The weather has been unusually stormy throughout the Colony during this month. At Nelson, Christchurch, Hokitika, and
Southland, there were very strong N.W. winds on 15th and 16th, with low barometer readings; and the maximum force of the
wind for the month at all these stations occurred on the same date (16th). At Southland, the storm was very severe. Gales also
occurred in the North Island from the same quarter and about the same date. The most remarkable occurrence in this month
was a severe earthquake shock, which was felt at all the stations except Mongonui, Otago, and Southland, on the 19th, at 0.15
a.m., and which appears to have come from the eastward, but was felt with greatest intensity as a wave of emergence along the
west side of the Island especially in Nelson and Taranaki, at which places a considerable amount of damage was done to
buildings.

December, 1868.

JAMES HECTOR,
Inspector of Meteorological Stations.