Meteorological Observations




APRIL 23.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 783

Heavy rain again fell over the South Island in connection with a depression which moved on to the Dominion during the 20th and 21st. Though vigorous at first this depression lost energy when a cyclone moved down from the north and, keeping to the eastward, passed near Chatham Islands.

On the 25th a deep cyclone, which had first appeared off the Queensland coast on the 18th, passed Norfolk Island on the westward side and on the 26th was centred near Cape Maria van Diemen. Moving in a south-easterly direction it was centred off East Cape on the morning of the 27th and soon moved away. It was responsible for very severe gales and remarkably high tides from Auckland northwards, and much damage was done. Heavy rain was recorded over most of the North Island, but the amounts, nevertheless, were surprisingly small for so deep and slow-moving a cyclone.

From the 28th until the end of the month a westerly depression followed by a series of secondaries caused a second series of westerly or south-westerly gales which were severe in many places. On the 29th a tornado of unusual size for New Zealand did considerable damage at Greymouth. There were heavy rains in western districts of the South Island.

EDWARD KIDSON, Director.

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE.

SUMMARY OF THE RECORDS OF TEMPERATURE, RAINFALL, AND SUNSHINE FOR MARCH, 1936.

Station. Height of Station above M.S.L. Air Temperatures in Degrees (Fahrenheit). Rainfall in Inches. Bright Sunshine (Hours).
Means of Mean of A and B. Difference from Normal. Absolute Maximum and Minimum. Total Fall. No. of Wet Days. Difference from Normal. Most in a Day.
A Max. B Min. Maximum Date. Minimum Date. Amount. Date.
Ft. °F °F °F °F °F In. In. In.
Te Paki, Te Hapua .. 200 68·8 55·4 62·1 (—1·0) 73·2 19, 20 44·0 17 2·76 10 .. 1·23 26 185·6
Waipoua State Forest .. 225 68·4 55·3 61·8 (±0·0) 75·0 20 46·0 23 6·38 19 .. 2·70 25 115·3
Riverhead .. 105 68·0 53·2 60·6 (—0·2) 76·1 1 42·0 18 3·88 15 .. 1·12 25 ..
Auckland .. 160 69·0 57·8 63·4 —1·2 75·8 1 49·0 9 2·48 12 —0·79 0·66 26 196·8
Waihi .. 404 67·3 52·7 60·0 —1·8 76·3 2 41·0 16 8·02 14 +0·52 2·77 26 164·9
Te Aroha .. 46 71·1 53·5 62·3 —1·1 79·0 7 42·2 17 5·73 13 +1·59 1·91 26 ..
Morrinsville .. 87 70·6 49·3 60·0 .. 77·2 20 37·3 18 2·75 12 .. 0·53 26 ..
Tauranga .. 100 69·7 51·9 60·8 —1·3 79·5 7 42·0 17 6·17 14 +2·25 3·24 26 212·7
Ruakura Farm, Hamilton 131 70·3 50·5 60·4 —1·6 77·6 14 35·8 17 3·58 12 +0·33 0·95 26 ..
Cambridge .. 230 69·7 50·4 60·0 (—2·4) 77·4 7 38·0 18 3·18 11 .. 0·59 1 199·9
Rotorua .. 925 66·5 49·7 58·1 —2·5 79·0 7 38·6 16 4·03 12 +0·55 1·22 26 159·3
Whakarewarewa .. 1,000 68·0 48·5 58·2 (—1·9) 76·8 23 37·0 16 3·81 11 —0·06 1·10 26 ..
Onepoto, Lake Waikare-moana 2,110 60·1 48·5 54·3 .. 69·0 2, 12 41·3 25 7·11 16 .. 1·92 26 ..
New Plymouth .. 60 66·9 53·0 60·0 —1·1 75·0 1 40·3 16 2·06 13 —1·62 0·92 2 194·7
Chateau Tongariro .. 3,670 54·1 .. .. .. 68·0 7 .. .. 6·03 18 .. 1·71 2 ..
Karioi .. 2,125 61·7 41·2 51·4 (—2·7) 72·1 22 28·4 16 2·75 14 .. 0·63 2 ..
Napier .. 5 68·0 52·3 60·2 —1·9 77·5 20 39·5 16 6·15 14 +3·49 2·13 8 175·4
Hastings .. 45 69·8 48·9 59·4 (—1·1) 79·0 20 35·4 16 5·89 14 .. 2·45 8, 26 ..
Taihape .. 2,157 60·1 46·4 53·2 —3·2 68·8 22 37·0 16 2·67 15 +0·07 0·87 8 ..
Tangimoana .. 8 65·3 50·2 57·8 —2·4 72·5 6 37·0 6, 25 2·85 8 +0·56 1·40 2 ..
Palmerston North .. 100 67·0 51·3 59·2 —1·3 76·0 22 38·0 16 2·77 11 +0·25 1·20 2 ..
Massey College, P.N. .. 110 64·9 51·0 58·0 (—2·0) 74·0 22 37·0 16 2·78 12 (—0·09) 1·35 2 147·9
Pahiatua .. 384 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Kapiti Island .. 44 63·3 51·0 57·2 —3·2 73·0 7 44·0 28 4·83 9 +2·75 2·49 1 ..
Masterton .. 387 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Wellington .. 415 61·9 50·1 56·0 —3·7 70·6 12 42·6 31 4·64 13 (+1·44) 1·38 2 194·6
Nelson .. 24 67·0 50·0 58·5 —1·5 75·0 23 38·1 30 1·45 6 —1·47 0·60 2 235·0
Appleby, Nelson .. 57 66·4 49·4 57·9 (—1·7) 74·7 23 40·3 4 1·06 6 .. 0·69 2 ..
Blenheim .. 30 67·0 46·8 56·9 (—4·1) 76·5 22 34·0 9 1·33 9 (—0·44) 0·47 2 226·0
Golden Downs .. 900 64·6 43·9 54·2 (—2·1) 72·7 1 34·3 4 2·81 6 .. 1·10 2 ..
Waihopai .. 860 64·7 45·6 55·2 (—4·4) 76·2 22 35·3 31 2·22 11 .. 0·83 2 ..
Hanmer Springs .. 1,225 63·0 41·1 52·0 —4·5 76·3 22 27·6 25 4·94 15 +1·68 2·02 9 209·4
Balmoral .. 743 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Hokitika .. 12 62·9 47·1 55·0 —2·8 70·0 1 38·0 31 9·53 15 +0·02 3·09 2 ..
Lake Coleridge .. 1,220 63·3 43·2 53·2 —3·6 79·0 22 32·0 31 4·50 12 +2·76 1·36 8 ..
Rudstone, Methven .. 1,217 61·3 42·7 52·0 (—4·6) 75·0 7 33·0 9, 24 8·04 12 +5·32 2·14 2 ..
Christchurch .. 22 61·4 47·1 54·2 —3·7 72·0 11 35·1 25 6·07 13 +4·23 2·27 9 192·9
Lincoln .. 36 63·5 46·3 54·9 —3·7 72·5 11 34·0 25 7·04 11 +4·95 2·60 2 191·3
Hermitage, Mount Cook 2,510 64·5 44·4 54·4 (+1·3) 78·0 1, 28 26·0 30 39·93 17 +25·57 7·40 2 121·2
Ashburton .. 323 62·7 45·0 53·8 (—3·3) 76·0 20 32·6 25 7·73 11 +6·01 2·97 8 199·3
Lake Tekapo .. 2,350 59·9 37·2 48·6 (—5·6) 72·2 22 29·1 15 4·28 7 .. 1·66 3 247·5
Fairlie .. 1,000 63·4 39·9 51·6 (—3·6) 77·0 7 29·5 25 5·08 9 .. 1·70 2 211·3
Timaru .. 56 64·6 44·4 54·5 —2·8 77·4 14 35·0 15 4·38 8 +2·22 1·35 2, 8 215·9
Waimate .. 200 63·5 42·8 53·2 —3·2 76·4 14 36·0 27 3·71 10 +1·63 1·45 8 198·3
* Milford Sound .. 23 60·1 45·9 53·0 .. 68·5 1 37·0 15 15·65 17 .. 3·48 28 ..
Queenstown .. 1,110 61·9 42·4 52·2 (—3·6) 71·4 20 34·8 15 3·24 12 +0·62 0·78 28 206·0
Ophir .. 1,000 63·5 38·3 50·9 —4·8 77·4 22 29·7 26 2·36 9 +1·06 0·64 2 ..
Waipiata .. 1,550 61·3 38·9 50·1 —4·4 78·6 22 32·0 13 3·11 11 .. 1·18 8 211·5
Alexandra .. 520 64·6 40·7 52·6 (—4·4) 79·5 22 31·5 25 1·41 8 (+0·40) 0·41 2 225·0
Manorburn Dam .. 2,448 55·4 34·8 45·1 (—4·9) 69·8 22 28·0 25 2·09 11 +0·20 0·45 7 ..
Dunedin .. 240 61·2 43·5 52·4 —3·6 74·8 20 34·0 22 6·12 15 +3·22 2·32 8 181·4
Gore .. 245 63·1 40·2 51·6 —3·3 77·0 20 35·0 27 5·06 21 +1·97 0·90 27 157·1
Invercargill .. 12 60·1 43·9 52·0 —2·7 75·0 7 34·0 26 5·20 21 +1·31 1·10 27 148·4

LATE RETURNS.

| † Te Paki, Te Hapua, February, 1936 | 200 | 72·2 | 54·1 | 63·2 | —1·7 | 79·0 | 2 | 44·2 | 10 | 9·68 | 10 | .. | 5·65 | 2 | 233·1 |
| Milford Sound, January, 1936 | 23 | 64·4 | 49·7 | 58·0 | .. | 77·6 | 1 | 43·7 | 28 | 27·75 | 18 | .. | 8·78 | 29 | .. |

  • Milford Sound screen minimum temperatures for 23 days only.

† Te Paki, Te Hapua, February means for 26 days only.

NOTE.—At stations where departures from normal are in parentheses the record has been maintained for less than ten years in the case of temperatures and for less than twenty years in the case of rainfall, and the normals are partly interpolated.



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🏗️ Meteorological Observations for March 1936 (continued from previous page)

🏗️ Infrastructure & Public Works
Weather, Temperature, Rainfall, Wind, Sunshine, Wellington
  • Edward Kidson, Director

🏗️ Climatological Table for March 1936

🏗️ Infrastructure & Public Works
Temperature, Rainfall, Sunshine, Statistics

🏗️ Late Returns for February and January 1936

🏗️ Infrastructure & Public Works
Temperature, Rainfall, Sunshine, Statistics