2382
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 51

Government Meteorological Observatory.

METEOROLOGICAL Observations, Wellington, for the
month of May, 1926. Observations taken 9 a.m.

Altitude of Observatory, 10 ft.

| Date. | Barometer reduced
and corrected in
Inches to Lat. 45°. | From Self-registering Instruments,
for Twenty-four Hours previously. | | | | | | | | Rainfall, in Points
(100 to 1 Inch). |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | Max. Temp.
in Shade. | Min. Temp.
in Shade. | Mean Temp.
in Shade. | Solar Radia-
tion. | Terrestrial
Radiation. | Veloc. Wind,
in Miles. | Amount of Cloud,
0 to 10. | Direction of Wind. | |
| | | Fah. | Fah. | Fah. | Fah. | Fah. | | | | |
| 1 | 29·340 | 71·0 | 51·0 | 61·0 | 116·0 | 41·0 | 137 | 10 | S.S.E. | Trace |
| 2 | 29·713 | 61·1 | 51·0 | 56·0 | 105·0 | 43·0 | 156 | 9 | N.N.W. | 108 |
| 3 | 29·102 | 62·4 | 57·3 | 59·8 | 94·0 | 54·7 | 405 | 7 | N.W. | 36 |
| 4 | 28·981 | 64·1 | 53·1 | 58·6 | 110·0 | 48·1 | 389 | 10 | S. | 19 |
| 5 | 29·398 | 61·9 | 46·3 | 54·1 | 115·0 | 37·9 | 167 | 9 | S.E. | 4 |
| 6 | 29·858 | 53·8 | 43·9 | 48·8 | 88·0 | 36·2 | 164 | 2 | N.N.E. | .. |
| 7 | 30·065 | 59·1 | 40·2 | 49·6 | 108·0 | 30·2 | 122 | 10 | N.W. | .. |
| 8 | 29·937 | 62·2 | 56·4 | 59·3 | 86·0 | 53·9 | 410 | 10 | N.W. | 7 |
| 9 | 29·491 | 62·6 | 58·9 | 60·7 | 98·0 | 55·7 | 478 | 3 | N.W. | 4 |
| 10 | 29·720 | 63·9 | 45·0 | 54·4 | 110·0 | 42·1 | 331 | 1 | S.E. | .. |
| 11 | 29·708 | 59·0 | 50·2 | 54·6 | 105·0 | 49·2 | 371 | 9 | N.W. | 9 |
| 12 | 29·519 | 62·1 | 58·0 | 60·0 | 111·0 | 55·2 | 451 | 10 | N.W. | 44 |
| 13 | 29·699 | 63·0 | 52·2 | 57·6 | 90·0 | 48·0 | 446 | 2 | N.W. | 2 |
| 14 | 29·637 | 57·8 | 51·2 | 54·5 | 105·0 | 46·1 | 328 | 5 | N.W. | 6 |
| 15 | 29·972 | 58·2 | 36·2 | 47·2 | 112·0 | 26·9 | 105 | 0 | N.E. | 8 |
| 16 | 30·230 | 55·8 | 44·3 | 50·0 | 109·0 | 36·8 | 133 | 1 | S. | .. |
| 17 | 30·349 | 57·0 | 37·2 | 47·1 | 102·0 | 29·0 | 45 | 1 | N.N.E. | .. |
| 18 | 30·148 | 57·2 | 50·1 | 53·6 | 114·0 | 48·2 | 341 | 9 | N.W. | .. |
| 19 | 30·058 | 57·9 | 44·2 | 51·0 | 107·0 | 37·5 | 192 | 8 | Calm | Trace |
| 20 | 30·196 | 60·0 | 50·2 | 55·1 | 92·0 | 46·1 | 124 | 10 | S.E. | 27 |
| 21 | 29·927 | 56·0 | 50·9 | 53·4 | 69·0 | 48·0 | 157 | 10 | N.E. | 48 |
| 22 | 29·490 | 61·9 | 54·7 | 58·3 | 75·0 | 48·1 | 72 | 10 | N.N.W. | 66 |
| 23 | 29·225 | 63·8 | 54·3 | 59·0 | 88·0 | 51·2 | 255 | 5 | N.N.E. | 27 |
| 24 | 29·347 | 59·5 | 54·2 | 56·8 | 93·0 | 51·8 | 189 | 7 | N.W. | 17 |
| 25 | 29·498 | 63·2 | 54·1 | 58·6 | 110·0 | 50·0 | 380 | 5 | N.W. | Trace |
| 26 | 29·588 | 59·0 | 53·1 | 56·0 | 105·0 | 50·7 | 407 | 9 | N.W. | 15 |
| 27 | 29·650 | 58·2 | 51·8 | 55·0 | 98·0 | 44·1 | 263 | 1 | N.W. | .. |
| 28 | 29·822 | 59·1 | 38·0 | 48·5 | 103·0 | 28·0 | 49 | 8 | Calm | .. |
| 29 | 30·038 | 54·0 | 35·0 | 44·5 | 101·0 | 24·8 | 41 | 2 | N.E. | 18 |
| 30 | 30·333 | 56·3 | 44·6 | 50·4 | 112·0 | 37·0 | 167 | 6 | S.S.E. | 10 |
| 31 | 30·521 | 51·0 | 45·8 | 48·4 | 86·0 | 43·0 | 248 | 9 | S.S.E. | 2 |
| * | 29·760 | 59·7 | 48·8 | 54·2 | 100·5 | 43·3 | 243 | 6·4 | .. | 477 |
| † | 29·971 | 58·2 | 47·2 | 52·7 | 95·3 | 40·4 | 220 | 5·7 | .. | 476 |

*Means, &c. † Means previous years.

DIRECTION OF WIND.

N. N.E. E. S.E. S. S.W. W. N.W. Calm.

5 | 3 | .. | 3 | 5 | .. | .. | 13 | 2

NOTE.—A month of average rain and sunshine. Total
bright sunshine 132 hours, 43 per cent. of the possible, and
four sunless days. Frost was recorded on the grass on five
mornings. Mean earth temperature at 1 ft. was 53·2° and
56·7° at 3 ft. Mean dew-point, 46·9°; mean elastic force of
vapour 0·322 in.; and mean relative humidity, 77 per cent.
of saturation.

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE.
MEANS AND TOTALS FROM CHIEF STATIONS.
May, 1926.

| Altitude above
Sea-level. | Name of Station and
Observer. | Absolute Mean
Temp. Air in
Shade. | Extremes. | | Total Rainfall
(100 Points to the
Inch). | Days with Rain
(¼ Point or more). |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | Mean
Max. Temp. | Mean
Min. Temp. | | |
| Ft. | | Deg | Deg. | Deg. | Points. | |
| 152 | NORTH ISLAND.
AUCKLAND .. | 57·5 | 62·4 | 52·6 | 1370 | 22 |
| 131 | RUA KURA FARM,
HAMILTON EAST
A. Y. Montgomery | 53·8 | 62·8 | 44·8 | 1007 | 20 |
| 211 | MATAMATA ..
W. Halligan | 53·7 | 61·8 | 45·6 | 945 | 20 |
| 46 | TE AROHA ..
C. E. Christensen | 56·3 | 64·9 | 47·8 | 786 | 18 |
| 340 | WAIHI ..
C. F. Sims | 54·9 | 62·4 | 47·5 | 1935 | 20 |
| 100 | TAURANGA ..
C. J. Butcher | 55·3 | 62·7 | 48·0 | 898 | 19 |
| 925 | ROTORUA ..
W. E. Penno | 52·2 | 59·4 | 45·0 | 945 | 18 |
| 60 | NEW PLYMOUTH
G. H. Dolby | 54·6 | 60·4 | 48·8 | 1013 | 24 |
| 2080 | TAIHAPE ..
A. R. Fannin | 47·7 | 53·4 | 42·0 | 608 | 24 |
| 100 | PALMERSTON NORTH..
J. A. Colquhoun | 52·5 | 59·4 | 45·6 | 697 | 18 |
| 8 | TANGIMOANA
R. A. Reid | 52·8 | 62·5 | 43·1 | 640 | 19 |
| 119 | CENTRAL DEVELOPMENT
FARM, WERAROA
J. E. Sharp | 53·2 | 59·1 | 47·4 | 664 | 23 |
| 5 | NAPIER ..
Chas. L. Thomas | 56·3 | 63·3 | 49·3 | 318 | 14 |
| 377 | MASTER TON
R. Brown | 51·4 | 59·5 | 43·4 | 628 | 22 |
| 186 | GREYTOWN
W. Allan | 51·7 | 58·8 | 44·7 | 795 | 23 |
| 10 | WELLINGTON .. | 54·2 | 59·7 | 48·8 | 477 | 20 |
| | SOUTH ISLAND.
BRIGHTWATER
Ven. Archdeacon
Kemphorne | 50·1 | 60·1 | 40·2 | 489 | 16 |
| 87 | | | | | | |
| 34 | NELSON ..
H. Harrison | 50·6 | 59·3 | 42·0 | 538 | 18 |
| 1220 | HANMER SPRINGS ..
W. Montgomery. | 45·4 | 54·6 | 36·3 | 508 | 18 |
| 25 | CHRISTCHURCH ..
H. F. Skey | 48·0 | 56·1 | 39·9 | 314 | 20 |
| 42 | LINCOLN ..
M. J. Scott | 45·2 | 58·2 | 38·2 | 139 | 10 |
| 1220 | KISSELTON ..
A. E. Young | 46·7 | 52·4 | 35·0 | 594 | 16 |
| 349 | RAKAIA ..
Miss A. Hardy | 48·8 | 58·4 | 39·3 | 301 | 11 |
| 1000 | FAIRLIE ..
A. J. Grant | 45·1 | 55·9 | 34·4 | 366 | 11 |
| 130 | TIMARU ..
Caretaker of Domain | 47·3 | 55·0 | 39·7 | 318 | 13 |
| 200 | WAIMATE ..
F. Akhurst | 47·3 | 55·4 | 39·3 | 446 | 15 |
| 1550 | SANATORIUM, WAIPIATA
Dr. A. Kidd | 41·0 | 48·6 | 33·5 | 257 | 14 |
| 1000 | OPHIR ..
A. Don | 39·2 | 48·0 | 30·5 | 178 | 13 |
| 300 | DUNEDIN ..
D. Tannock | 46·7 | 52·2 | 41·3 | 529 | 24 |
| 245 | GORE ..
A. T. Newman | 44·7 | 52·3 | 37·1 | 373 | 23 |
| 12 | HOKITIKA ..
J. A. Chesney | 49·3 | 56·5 | 42·1 | 1505 | 21 |
| 12 | INVERCARGILL
L. Lennie | 46·8 | 52·7 | 40·9 | 556 | 26 |

SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF MAY, 1926.

In contrast to the preceding month May proved very wet. The total rainfall was much above the average in almost
all parts of the Dominion, only a few places along the East Coast reporting a deficiency.
There were three brief anticyclonic periods, culminating on the 7th, 17th, and 31st; but between these areas of high
pressure were several disturbances associated with stormy conditions. An extensive westerly depression ruled over the
Dominion between the 2nd and 6th. The gradient was more severe in the North than in the South, and gales, with heavy
rain, were reported, especially in and north of Cook Strait. A sudden and steep fall in the barometer on the 9th accounted
for boisterous conditions and a deluge on the West Coast; pressure then continued low and the weather unsettled for a week.
An ex-tropical disturbance made its appearance to the north of New Zealand on the 17th and, travelling slowly south,
the centre apparently only passed about Cook Strait on the 23rd. This, uniting with an Antarctic “low,” resulted in nearly
a fortnight of bad weather.
Temperatures were comparatively mild and, although there were a few sharp frosts experienced, a good autumn growth
of grass was reported.

D. C. BATES, Director.