JULY 25.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 1761

Government Meteorological Observatory.

METEOROLOGICAL Observations at Kelburn, Wellington, for the Month of June, 1940. Observations taken at 9 a.m.

Altitude of Observatory, 415 ft.

Mean earth temperature at 1 ft., 46·3°; and at 3 ft., 49·6°. Number of rain days, 14. Total rainfall, 53 per cent. below normal. Sunshine, 54 per cent. of the possible, being the sunniest June ever experienced in Wellington. Mean dewpoint at 9 a.m., 42·4°; mean vapour pressure, 0·270 in.

DIRECTION OF WIND.

NOTE.—A brilliantly fine winter month.

NOTES ON THE WEATHER FOR JUNE, 1940.

General Notes.—Many bright sunny days, following cool frosty nights, made June a pleasant month in most districts. During the earlier part of the month, however, the far north had light showers for a number of successive days, and in the far south skies were cloudy but with frosts correspondingly less frequent. The prevailing dry conditions have enabled farmers to go ahead with cultivation and outdoor work after the hold-up caused by bad weather and the sudden state of the ground in the previous month. The delayed autumn wheat sowings have been completed in Canterbury and the soil is being prepared for the spring sowings. Only in the far north is there any movement in the pastures, but the dairy yields are keeping up very well for the season. The month has proved a very satisfactory opening for winter in every way.

Rainfall.—June was exceptionally dry. Some excesses occurred, however, in the south-west corner of the South Island, while in western coastal districts the deficits were moderate. To the east and throughout the interior of the South Island, as well as in Canterbury and Marlborough, the totals were under half the normal values. In southern Hawke’s Bay the amounts were particularly light, reaching record low levels, and also in South Canterbury the deficiencies were very marked. Temperatures did not deviate greatly from the normal, the departures being positive in the southern half of the South Island but predominantly negative elsewhere. Frosts were very frequent, some stations experiencing very few nights without one. On several occasions hail showers occurred, but these were not severe, and the amount of snow was about the usual for June.

Sunshine.—A surplus of sunshine was enjoyed everywhere except in Southland and Westland. In Wellington, Blenheim, and Christchurch, it was the sunniest June on record. Both Nelson and Blenheim averaged above six hours daily.

Weather Sequence.—With the gradual displacement of the anticyclone centred to the north by a low-pressure trough the weather during the first days of the month deteriorated from the west. Winds turned to the south-west and snow showers fell in the South Island, coatings of 2 in. to 4 in. being reported from the flats between Southland and Canterbury.

A clearance followed on the 5th when another anticyclone extended across the north Tasman Sea, while westerly depressions began to move over the south Tasman Sea and these gave scattered rains in the west. A more extensive and complex depression approaching on the 8th resulted in some days of generally unsettled weather. Rain was heaviest on the 9th, especially so in western districts from Taranaki southwards as well as in the East Cape--Bay of Plenty region. Secondary disturbances kept conditions showery, with some hail and snow in Otago and Southland.

On the 13th New Zealand came under the influence of an anticyclone which later intensified when another high-pressure system moving on to the South Island on the 18th gradually merged with it, the whole remaining almost stationary until the 22nd. This was a settled spell with light winds which tended southerly at first but easterly later. Nights were often frosty, and towards the end of this period morning fogs and drizzle became more prevalent.

A vigorous disturbance crossed the Dominion on the 23rd giving fairly general rain, which was heaviest in central and western areas. The centre of lowest pressure became stationary in the vicinity of Chatham Islands, while an anticyclone very slowly approached New Zealand. Secondary disturbances brought hail and snow in the south. South-westerly winds prevailed until the end of the month and were intermittently strong in force. There were scattered showers, chiefly in the west at first but after the 28th mainly in eastern areas. Otherwise the weather was fine though cold.

M. A. F. BARNETT, Director.

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