Feb. 20] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE 241

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—continued

Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for January, 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.

NOTES ON THE WEATHER FOR JANUARY, 1947

General.—For the fourth consecutive month the mean temperatures were below normal. Cool and rather unsettled conditions continued in the early part of the month. In the latter half, however, favourable weather and much warmer temperatures enabled considerable leeway to be made up in shearing, harvesting, and haymaking activities. In general, pastures were in good condition, although beginning to dry off rapidly towards the end of the month. Stock was reported to be doing well.

On the 4th some severe hailstorms caused considerable damage to crops in South Canterbury. Windows and glasshouses also suffered badly.

Rainfall.—Over most of the country the rainfall for the month was below average. The Coromandel Peninsula and a narrow strip of the country between Foxton and Castlepoint barely managed to attain their normal amounts; but the coastal area from Taieri to Ashburton received almost double the average, most of this falling between the 7th and 9th.

Less than half the usual amount of rain fell in North Auckland, the Bay of Plenty, southern Hawke’s Bay, and South Canterbury.

Temperatures.—In spite of a spell of warm weather towards the end of the month mean temperatures were again below normal, departures being of the order of 1 to 3 degrees.

Sunshine.—Sunshine totals were in general below normal. The deficiency was greatest in Canterbury, where it amounted to an average of about one hour per day.

Weather Sequence.—Mainly fair conditions prevailed on the 1st and 2nd as an anticyclone passed North Auckland. During the 3rd, with the passage of a trough, there was a short period of rain affecting western districts. Thereafter winds turned south-westerly and became southerly by the 6th. There were a few showers in most areas, and in the South Island some severe but very local thunderstorms. It improved on the 7th as a high-pressure wedge moved on to the country.

From the 7th to the 9th the Dominion came under the influence of a complex depression which had moved in from the central Tasman Sea. Considerable rain fell in the Westland, Nelson, Marlborough, and Canterbury Provinces, with some minor flooding about South Canterbury and Banks Peninsula. Elsewhere falls were light or moderate. The Otago coast experienced a spell of strong easterlies.

The weather soon improved in the North Island, but it was not until the 13th, when the depression was far to the east, that it began to improve completely on the East Coast of the South Island. Meanwhile a tropical cyclone which had developed to the north-west of Fiji was moving southwards towards the Dominion. At noon on the 15th it was centred two hundred miles east of East Cape travelling rapidly south-eastwards. Most of the Auckland, Taranaki, and Hawke’s Bay Provinces experienced heavy rain for a time, while south-easterly gales caused some damage during the night of the 14th in the North Taranaki and Opotiki districts. Some light rain was still falling in parts of the Gisborne and North Auckland districts during the 16th, but by that night fine weather had extended over the whole country.

On the east coast a few showers and a temporary change to fresh southerly winds followed the passage of a weak cold front on the 20th. A depression which was lying in the central Tasman Sea took a north-easterly course and passed harmlessly to the north of New Zealand on the 21st. Another weak cold front brought some light rain to western and southern districts of the South Island on 22nd, but over much of the country fine settled weather and warm temperatures continued until the end of the month. On a few occasions, however, extensive areas of low cloud with some fog or drizzle were reported, notably on the 27th (south of Kawhia) and on the morning of the 30th and 31st. Two weak troughs which crossed the South Island on the 25th and the 28th brought some brief rain to Westland and Southland.

M. A. F. BARNETT, Director.

Notice under the Regulations Act, 1936

NOTICE is hereby given in pursuance of the Regulations Act, 1936, of the making of regulations and orders as under :—

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