Oct. 20.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 2149

Government Meteorological Observatory.

METEOROLOGICAL Observations at Kelburn, Wellington, for the Month of August, 1932. Observations taken at 9 a.m.

Altitude of Observatory, 415 ft.

Mean earth temperature at 1 ft., 44·5°; and at 3 ft., 46·4°. Number of rain days, 16.

DIRECTION OF WIND.

Gale (force 8 or more). | Forces 4 to 7. | Calm. | N. | N.E. | E. | S.E. | S. | S.W. | W. | N.W.
.. | 14 | 1 | 7 | 2½ | .. | 6½ | 7 | ½ | .. | 6½

NOTE.—On the whole a windy, wet, and unsettled month, with mean temperatures 2·5 degrees below the average for August. Rainfall for the month was 75 per cent. above the normal. Total bright sunshine, 146·1 hours, 45 per cent. of the possible, and four sunless days. Frost was recorded on the grass on nine mornings, and hail fell on four days. Fog was in evidence on four days, and light flakes of snow fell on the 5th and 6th. Mean dew-point at 9 hrs., 39·1°; and mean vapour pressure, 0·238 in.

SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 1932.

General.—August was a cold month in all parts of the Dominion, but in the latter half there were a number of mild days. Rainfall was still below average over the greater part of the Dominion, but the heavy rain from the 27th to the 29th caused a considerable excess in most of Taranaki and in Southern Wellington. Feed is rather scarce, especially for cattle. The low temperatures, however, were mitigated by the abundance of bright sunshine, and, following the rain towards the end of the month, the grass began to show signs of growth in most districts. Sheep appear to be doing fairly well, though there have been some losses of lambs during the cold snaps. The snow of the early part of the month and the floods of the latter end caused serious losses of stock in the Wairarapa.

Rainfall.—In the South Island there were only scattered parts of Canterbury and Otago that had more than the normal rainfall. In the North Island, in addition to the areas mentioned, parts of the Auckland Peninsula had more than the average. In Hawke’s Bay and at many other places the month was a very dry one.

Temperatures.—The temperature was everywhere from one and a half to three degrees below normal. There were many severe frosts in the first half of the month, and from the 22nd to the 26th.

Sunshine.—All parts had more sunshine than usual. Nelson recorded 233·7 hours and Blenheim 218·1 hours, while the total of 208 hours at Waimate was very much above the average.

Pressure Systems.—The month began with a continuance of the same type of weather as had ruled during July. Depressions were mainly of cyclonic type, with the centres pursuing tracks which kept to the north of New Zealand. The most important of these cyclones passed Norfolk Island on the 3rd, and its passage coincided with that of a westerly depression to the southward. From Norfolk Island it moved in a south-easterly direction, becoming deeper in the process. The southerly winds in the rear of this depression were very cold and strong and peculiarly persistent. On every day from the afternoon of the 2nd, when they first reached the southernmost portion of the Dominion, until the evening of the 6th, when they finally died away, they brought hail, snow, and winds of gale force to many places. At first the full severity of the southerly was experienced only in the far South, but gradually it spread northwards. The 5th was a particularly bitter day. Snow fell down to low levels over an area covering the greater part of the South Island and all the interior and the high levels of the North. Even at Thames and on the Hauraki Plains there was a light fall. The Wairarapa suffered relatively the most severely, snow commencing on the night of the 3rd and not ceasing finally until the 6th. The total fall was the heaviest since 1918.

On the 7th an anti-cyclone moved on to New Zealand, the highest pressures being experienced in the South Island. This anti-cyclone maintained its position until the 13th, when it began to move away eastward. Barometers were at times very high. Although cyclones still continued to pass by to the northwards, bringing unsettled weather to varying proportions of the North Island, the weather was otherwise very fine. Many severe frosts were experienced, especially in the South Island.

The anti-cyclone just mentioned was the precursor to a more spring-like régime. Following it, depressions, though well developed, were of the normal westerly type. From the 13th to the 15th, as the first of these depressions approached, occurred the first really mild weather for a long period. The first two days, especially, were beautifully fine and produced