SEPT. 18] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE 1353

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—continued

Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for August, 1947—continued

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.

SUMMARY OF THE WEATHER FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 1947

General.—August was a favourable month. As in the previous two months temperatures were relatively mild. Stock has wintered exceptionally well, and with few exceptions feed is abundant. Conditions for lambing and calving were good, although the cold rains of the 17th in the Wairarapa caused some losses among new lambs.

Rainfall.—Hawke’s Bay had only about half the average rainfall. The greatest excesses were in Nelson and in parts of the Wairarapa, but even there departures from normal were not great. In Marlborough and in North and South Canterbury the rainfall was also in excess, but elsewhere totals differed little from the average.

Temperatures.—Over the Auckland Province mean temperatures were equal to or slightly below the average. Over the remainder of the country they were above average, greatest departures being in Canterbury and on the West Coast. On the 5th Christchurch recorded its highest August temperatures since 1902, while in Wellington the 25th was the warmest day of any August since 1909.

Sunshine.—It was a very sunny month about Dunedin and over mid-Canterbury, the excess amounting to forty hours and twenty-five hours respectively over the average for August. Totals were below average on the West Coast and in Nelson and the Wairarapa, though only by small amounts.

Weather Sequence.—For the first few days barometers remained very low to the south, while an anticyclone moved across the North Tasman Sea, the centre passing North Cape on the 3rd. The weather was showery in Westland, but fair elsewhere.

With the arrival of a cold front from the west, rain became heavy for a time in Westland on the 4th. The development of a small disturbance over South Auckland on the following day caused brief but heavy rain, and some thunderstorms locally. A vigorous cold front traversed the South Island during the night of the 6th and the North Island on the following morning. Heavy rain and some severe thunderstorms accompanied its passage, while a strong showery south-westerly current followed, gales occurring in exposed places.

On the 8th a long narrow ridge of high pressure moved in from the west, giving a temporary improvement. Next day a depression formed over Southland. With pressure rising steadily to the south-east, it began to move slowly north-eastwards up the South Island, crossing Cook Strait on the 10th, and later moving away east of the North Island. Ahead of the depression, rain was chiefly confined to western districts, but the cold southerlies which followed brought dull wet weather to the east coast. Much snow fell on the higher parts of both Islands, with some light falls on the Southland Plains. There was a rapid clearance in Westland on the 9th. A temporary improvement occurred in the north on the 11th, when the depression was east of Gisborne and anticyclones were centred to the north and south-east of the Dominion.

On the 12th north-easterlies were freshening as a complex trough approached from the west. Except to the east of the South Island ranges conditions were generally unsettled until the 15th, while this trough, followed by a secondary cold front, moved slowly eastwards across the country.

Although there was a temporary improvement in the east on the night of the 15th, conditions were even then deteriorating again in the west with the approach of another complex trough from the Tasman Sea.

A depression which formed in this trough moved across the North Island during the night of the 16th. Cold southerlies soon spread over the Dominion, rising to strong gale force for a time about Cook Strait and the southern half of the North Island, and bringing heavy rains to this area. It soon cleared in the South Island, but another cold southerly change on the 19th was accompanied by a period of showers east of the Alps. An intense anticyclone then built up over New Zealand and, although showers persisted about Gisborne until the 21st, the weather otherwise was fine with hard frosts in both Islands.

With the centre of the anticyclone near the Chatham Islands on the 22nd, an extensive depression began to move slowly eastwards across the Tasman Sea. North-easterly winds prevailed, later becoming strong in the north. Brilliantly fine weather continued over most of the country, but rain soon developed in the far north and extended gradually over the remainder of the Auckland Province. On the 25th it spread to Taranaki, Nelson, and the West Coast, and a general deterioration followed.

One low-pressure centre passed over the South Island on the night of the 26th, another over Auckland on the 28th, while a third moved across Nelson and Cook Strait on the 29th. During this generally unsettled period rain fell at times over most of the country, though falls were not substantial.

South-westerly conditions prevailed for the final two days, the weather being fair east of the main ranges, but changeable and showery elsewhere.

M. A. F. BARNETT, Director.

Sitting of the Native Land Court at Kaikohe on the 14th October, 1947

Office of the Native Land Court, Auckland, 11th September, 1947.

NOTICE is hereby given that the matters mentioned in the Schedule hereunder will be heard by the Native Land Court sitting at Kaikohe on Tuesday, the 14th October, 1947, at 10.30 a.m., or as soon thereafter as the business of the Court will allow.

J. H. ROBERTSON, Registrar.

[Tokerau 1947-8/10.]

SCHEDULE