572
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
No. 13

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, JANUARY, 1906.

The New Year was ushered in generally with a few days of wet and stormy weather, which was followed by a fortnight of very warm and fine weather, though the atmosphere was extremely hazy at times. The last week of the month was more unsettled, especially in the South.

The rainfall was below the average at nearly all the meteorological stations, with the exception of those in the basins of the Wanganui, Rangitikei, and Manawatu Rivers in the North Island, and in South Canterbury and North Otago in the South. A widespread area of low pressure, with low gradients, however, brought some exceptionally heavy rains during its passage over New Zealand on the 5th, 6th, and 7th. A wave of Antarctic low pressure of great extent reached the South Island, and affected the weather of the colony between the 20th and 28th. Thunderstorms were very prevalent on the 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 28th in many parts, but in Canterbury especially. Hail fell in several places, and did damage in some places to garden blooms, &c. From Pleasant Point, near Timaru, Mr. J. Bishop mentions, “The hailstorm at 2 a.m. on the 22nd was much heavier a mile west from here. Some grain-crops appeared totally destroyed, others much damaged. Hailstorms usually arise from the south, but this storm came from the north-west. It is the first time this has occurred in my thirty years’ experience in this district.” Another observer mentions that the hail passed in narrow strips over the same district. Snow fell on Mount Egmont on the 23rd; sleet at the Hermitage, Mount Cook, on the 22nd, and snow on the 23rd: it was also noticed on other mountains, and on the morning of the 24th was followed by a frost, which did some damage in places in Canterbury. A frost also occurred on the 6th, and fires in sitting-rooms at these unusual times made people speculate if the summer had changed its habits.

The temperature was generally below the usual mean for New Zealand, and the month resembles the corresponding period of last year, with only slight improvement upon the records found in the climatological tables. The warm weather in the middle of the month was very muggy in many places, and the unusual haze and mist, which swept across the skies were very remarkable. They may be accounted for, like most clouds, by the meeting of warmer and colder currents in the atmosphere—just as fog at sea is caused by a cold air resting upon a warmer ocean from which vapour rises. It was noticed in many cases that the upper and lower currents were each moving in different directions—mostly from the westward—one N.W. and the other S.W. This haze was, however, widely attributed to smoke from Australian bush-fires 1,300 miles away, and it is remembered to have occurred in 1898 in a similar manner. Marine observations would be particularly valuable in this connection. There is nothing improbable in the idea, for it is well known that the volcanic dust from the eruption of Krakatoa in August, 1883, caused strange atmospheric effects, particularly in the sunsets all over the world.

The weather was generally most pleasant in the North Island, and very beneficial to most crops, especially oats and turnips. Grass grew abundantly. Mr. L. J. Adams, of Ruatangata Nursery, near Whangarei, writes, “The weather conditions during last month have been superb: splendid warm, steady temperatures, with moderate and well distributed rains, light variable winds, and a steady glass, as a rule. All growths seem suited to these conditions. The country is looking at its best. Fruit is abundant, and seeds of all kinds are making good progress. The potato-blight is causing very little trouble, due to the better conditions ruling and the hardier foliage of the late varieties.” Mr. L. A. MacDonald, of Halcombe, near Feilding, states, “The Algerian oats are rust-proof this season, and it is expected a heavy yield is forthcoming. In every other oat-crop there are indications of rust, but these are not sufficiently pronounced to cause much anxiety. Blight may be found among the potatoes of this district. Turnips are coming along splendidly.” Mr. R. F. Goulter, of Timara, Renwicktown, in the Marlborough Province, remarks, “We have had a splendid month for harvesting, no rain to do any damage and no strong winds.” He also mentions that the note upon his remarks re beetles not being so common this year, which was presumed to refer to the brown beetles (Encolaspis brunnea) is incorrect; he meant the Odontria zealandia, the larvae commonly known as the grass-grub.

In the Waimate district, South Canterbury, it is, however, reported that “crops are very backward and sappy, but ripening. Some good and some very bad—good where ground has been well worked and loosened, but very bad where it has been allowed to become sour or had not been properly worked. Feed plentiful but soft, and not very nutritious.”

Dr. J. St. C. Gunn, F.R.Met.S., has, I regret to say, through an illness, just been compelled—it is hoped temporarily—to discontinue his meteorological observations at Kaikoura. His annual abstract for the year 1905 will be of interest and value as a record, and is printed herewith. It represents in a small compass a considerable amount of work, which he has voluntarily carried on during the past twelve years, although the results of only nine years appear in the abstract. In his letter covering the abstract Dr. Gunn says, “I have worked all these years simply because I felt that the work of climatological observation was an all-important one in a colony which boasts of its climate. I have tried to stir up public opinion through letters to the Press, &c., and I have the gratification of feeling that there was a response. Several doctors and others have written for information as to how best to record climatological observations, and I must have quite a number of pupils in the colony.” Some of these, I may add, are esteemed observers for the Meteorological Office, and Dr. Gunn’s help and encouragement have been most highly valued by myself personally. He intends later on to present his full records to the Meteorological Office. He has made an especial point of observations of the movements of the upper currents of the atmosphere as manifested in cirrus clouds—a matter at the present time receiving the highest scientific attention, and most instructive to weather observers and for forecast especially. This is, by the way, illustrated in a remark from last month’s report from Mr. W. M. Hamilton, of Waimate: “On the 20th January the movement of two opposing atmospheric currents was very distinctly seen. Heavy soft clouds drifted in from the east with the lower current, and very white hard cumulus clouds moved towards the west with the upper current. It is very seldom that I have noticed such an interesting manifestation of the phenomenon. On the 21st the weather was most extraordinary: in the afternoon about 3 it commenced to thunder, and continued until about 9. The thunder was accompanied with very heavy showers and some hail.”

D. C. BATES.
Meteorological Office, Wellington, 13th February, 1906.