3346

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

[No. 84

Government Meteorological Observatory.

METEOROLOGICAL Observations at Kelburn, Wellington, for the Month of October, 1933. Observations taken at 9 a.m.

Altitude of Observatory, 415 ft.

Mean earth temperature at 1 ft., 54·5°; and at 3 ft., 53·9°. Number of rain days, 9.

DIRECTION OF WIND.

NOTE.—Although the month, on the whole, was cold and windy, there was an abundance of bright sunshine. The total of 232·5 hours was 37 per cent. of the possible, and there were two sunless days. Rainfall was 36 per cent. below the mean of previous years. Hail fell on the 22nd and 23rd. Mean dew-point at 9 a.m., 45·3°; and mean vapour pressure, 0·302 in.

NOTES ON THE WEATHER FOR OCTOBER, 1933.

General.—October was a very dry month. Though the first twenty days were mild, some very cold weather for the time of year followed. The snowfalls between the night of the 20th and the morning of the 23rd, in addition to being heavy, were most unusually widespread for October. The frosts following the snow caused serious damage. In Central Otago the season’s fruit crop was almost totally destroyed. The cold and rather windy weather combined with the lack of rain checked the growth of pastures, and at the end of the month, owing to the general lack of moisture in the subsoil, the situation was distinctly dangerous. The Nelson District and Marlborough were especially unfortunate in missing the rains when other areas had moderate amounts, and pastures and crops have suffered correspondingly. Nevertheless, the country as a whole was standing up remarkably well under the dry conditions. Feed was actually becoming scarce in a comparatively few districts only. The lambing season has been an excellent one. Milk yields are still very high and stock are in good condition. The season is a particularly early one, most places being a fortnight or more ahead of the usual stage of development.

Rainfall.—The only places where the total rainfall exceeded the average were in western districts of the South Island and on the coast from Dunedin southward. Even in these areas excesses were not general. Over practically the whole of the North Island the deficit was considerable. In the South Island, in addition to Nelson and Marlborough, western Canterbury and Otago had, in many places, less than half the average.

Temperatures.—The mean temperatures were almost everywhere below the normal for October, and in most places considerably so. Christchurch proved an exception, the mean there being 0·8° above normal. Until the 20th conditions were generally mild, and Christchurch’s high figure was due to some very warm days experienced during this period. The cold spell from the 21st to the 24th was, however, amongst the worst known for October. Severe frosts occurred between the 22nd and 24th, the time of maximum severity being latest in the more northern areas. The most disastrous effects were in Central Otago, where the fruit crop was practically wiped out. At Stoke, near Nelson, also, much damage was done to orchards, but, on the whole, fruitgrowers in Canterbury, Nelson, and Hawke’s Bay were fortunate and suffered comparatively little. Losses of potatoes, tomatoes, and small fruits were heavy in many districts. There were frosts again at many places a week later. Though not severe, they checked growth, and in the Nelson and Marlborough districts intensified the effect of the rain scarcity on pastures and vegetation generally.