JUNE 2.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 1299

Government Meteorological Observatory.

METEOROLOGICAL Observations at Kelburn, Wellington, for the Month of April, 1938. Observations taken at 9 a.m.

Altitude of Observatory, 415 ft.

Mean earth temperature at 1 ft., 63·1°; and at 3 ft., 63·7°. Number of rain days, 20. Total rainfall, 96 per cent. above normal. Sunshine only 26 per cent. of the possible, being the least sunny April ever experienced. Mean dew-point at 9 a.m., 56·4°; mean vapour pressure, 0·455 in.

DIRECTION OF WIND.

NOTE.—A north-west gale occurred on the afternoon and evening of the 14th. There was a brilliant display of the Aurora Australis on the night of the 16th. Fogs were experienced on the 19th and 27th.

NOTES ON THE WEATHER FOR APRIL, 1938.

General.—April was an extremely dull, wet, and warm month with very little wind. Much flooding was experienced, and that of the 24th to 25th in Hawke’s Bay was a major disaster for that province. There were grave losses of stock and damage to roads, bridges, and property. One of the most serious features was the covering of rich pasture-lands by deep deposits of silt. There has been prolific growth of pasture, but it is very soft. Though stock generally are in good condition, the reverse is the case in much of the South Island. The conditions have been responsible for serious outbreaks of facial eczema in sheep and cattle, especially in the Waikato and east coast districts of the North Island. Lambs have not fattened well. The completion of harvesting has been delayed and farm work seriously interfered with, especially in Canterbury. Plants are late in showing autumn tints and in numerous cases have flowered twice.

Rainfall.—The rainfall was exceptionally heavy, and it was one of the wettest Aprils experienced in the Dominion. In Southland there was still a deficit, which was considerable in the far South. This shortage extended to parts of southern Otago, but over the rest of the country the average was exceeded. The departures were comparatively moderate in western districts of the South Island, most of Taranaki and North Auckland, but elsewhere more than double the normal was generally recorded. Napier had six times the average and Timaru nearly four times.

Temperatures.—As regards temperature, April was even more outstanding than March. There has been no previous April since records began to compare with it for warmth. Indeed, the only other month in which the average departure from normal over the Dominion has been so high was December, 1934. Though rather less at Napier and Wellington, the departures over the North Island and western districts of the South were generally from 6° to 8° F. In eastern districts of the South Island they averaged about 3° F. The beginning of the month was very warm, many places in the central provinces having not only the record temperature for April on the 2nd or 3rd, but also their highest for this year. There were very few frosts.

Sunshine.—Except in the extreme North and South the amount of bright sunshine was very much below average. Numbers of places recorded only about half the normal.

Pressure Systems.—The outstanding feature of the month was the high latitude in which the centres of the anticyclones moved and the persistence of high pressure at Chatham Island. The great majority of the country was thus generally on the tropical side of the high-pressure belt. There was not a single case of a well-developed westerly depression, while several cyclones moved down from the north and unusually well-developed low-pressure centres formed off the west coast. The atmosphere was so warm and humid that whenever conditions favoured rain it was liable to be very heavy. As in earlier months this year there were a number of extremely heavy rains covering a comparatively restricted area. There were few days on which some part of the country did not record heavy rain.

In the beginning of the month there was an almost stationary cyclone located over the North Tasman Sea. It finally moved eastwards and passed north of New Zealand on the 4th to 5th. This storm, combined with a shallow depression from the west, caused very heavy rain in the Auckland Province and parts of Taranaki and the Manawatu. In the two areas last mentioned it resulted in the breaking of a long spell of dry weather.

On the 13th one of the low-pressure centres referred to formed west of Nelson. It was rather deep and crossed the South Island during the next day. This storm, occurring just before Easter, caused general rain with many heavy falls and considerable flooding, especially in the South Island, where road traffic was disorganized on Good Friday. The weather remained unsettled throughout a large part of Easter at many places. There was some snow in the back country of Canterbury on the
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