AUG. 19]

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—continued

Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for July, 1948—continued

LATE RETURNS

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 JULY, 1948

General.—July was a remarkably mild month. For the most part it was also dull and wet, especially in the latter half. The ground became water-logged in some districts due to excessive rain combined with lack of sunshine and drying winds, but otherwise conditions in general have favoured the farmer. The shortage of cattle feed in the Rangitikei and Waipawa districts was only partly relieved by the slight winter growth which was maintained.

Rainfall.—Most of the country had an excess of rain. In Marlborough, parts of North Canterbury, and near Motueka over double the average rainfall was recorded. Near Kaikoura it was the wettest month for over thirty years, and probably the wettest July for over sixty years. The heavy rains of the 24th to 26th caused some flooding in Marlborough, the total for the three days amounting to 16·82 in. at Hapuku (near Kaikoura).

Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne had only about half the average rainfall and there were smaller deficiencies in Coromandel, Hauraki, Manawatu, Westland, and Banks Peninsula.

Temperatures.—For the country as a whole it was the mildest July since 1917. All stations recorded mean temperatures above normal, the departures exceeding three degrees at inland stations in the South Island and in the Manawatu District. Most other districts were at least two degrees above the normal.

Sunshine.—Few places received their usual quota of sunshine. The deficiency was greatest at Nelson, amounting to the equivalent of an hour a day, while many other places lacked twenty hours or more. Slight positive departures were recorded in the eastern part of the Auckland Province and in Invercargill.

Weather Sequence.—Westerly conditions prevailed at first, an anticyclone being located to the north and a deep depression to the south. Showers were frequent in the west and south, but the weather was fair east of the ranges.

During the north-eastward passage of a cold front across the South Island on the 2nd a depression formed near the Buller District. It deepened considerably as the centre moved rapidly eastwards across the Marlborough Sounds and Wellington. Heavy squalls occurred as the cold front travelled over the North Island, while a small tornado was reported near Matamata. The strong south-westerlies which then prevailed had already moderated when the storm centre crossed the Chatham Islands at 6 a.m. on the 4th. The central pressure had then dropped to 967 millibars (28·56 in.).

Except for scattered showers in the west, it was fine on the 5th and 6th as an anticyclone moved across to the east of the North Island. A southward-moving depression crossed Southland on the morning of the 8th, while the associated occlusion, with its belt of heavy rain, moved eastwards across the North Island. Except in districts east of the Southern Alps, this system produced general rain, with heaviest falls about the Bay of Plenty.

Barometers remained high to the north of New Zealand, and a ridge of high pressure produced a brief improvement on the 9th. Moderate westerly rains again occurred on the 10th and 11th, when a low-pressure centre passed close to Southland.

After giving a brilliantly fine day on the 12th an anticyclone moved off to the east and northerlies prevailed. Barometers were falling rapidly on the 13th and rain developed on the West Coast ahead of a deep cyclonic depression, which travelled rapidly south-eastwards across the middle of the South Island on the following afternoon. Winds reached gale force near the centre, and then turned south-westerly. Only negligible rain reached the Hawke’s Bay and Canterbury Plains, elsewhere falls were mostly moderate. A secondary cold front crossed the Auckland Province on the 15th.

With an intense anticyclone advancing across the South Tasman Sea a cold air mass invaded Southland late on the 16th. Southerlies then extended over the Dominion, bringing clear frosty weather to the greater part, but persistent cloud and showers to eastern districts between Banks Peninsula and East Cape.

When the anticyclone was centred east of Canterbury on the 19th an extensive and complex disturbance which had developed over the North Tasman Sea began to move south-eastwards. North-easterly gales and heavy rain preceded the associated occlusion in its passage over North Auckland and the Bay of Plenty. Rain became general as the disturbance moved slowly across the country, and some snow fell in inland Otago and on the South Island ranges. The weather cleared in Southland and Fjordland on the 24th, Hawke’s Bay having had a temporary improvement on the previous day, but elsewhere it remained very unsettled. One low-pressure centre was cast of the North Island on the 24th and another over the Buller District.

Pressures had remained very high to the south, and when a new depression from the north-west crossed South Auckland and Hawke’s Bay on the 26th strong onshore winds brought very heavy rains to the east coast of the Marlborough and Wellington Provinces, with flooding in the Kaikoura District.

On the 27th a passing ridge of high pressure gave a temporary clearance.

A shallow depression became stationery west of Southland on the 28th, while the accompanying trough travelled slowly eastwards across the Dominion. A new centre which developed near Cook Strait passed eastwards beyond the Chatham Islands on the 30th. The original centre again became active and, moving slowly north-eastwards, produced widespread rain over Nelson, Marlborough, and the North Island. It was approaching Auckland at the end of the month. In the South Island, the weather was then clearing with the approach of the next anticyclone from the west.

M. A. F. BARNETT, Director.

Mining Privileges Struck off the Register

Office of the Mining Registrar, Greymouth, 9th August, 1948.

NOTICE is hereby given in accordance with the provisions of section 188 (4) of the Mining Act, 1926, that the mining privileges mentioned in the Schedule hereto have this day been struck off the Register.

J. A. FYFE, Mining Registrar.

SCHEDULE

GREYMOUTH REGISTRY

AHAURA REGISTRY

(Mines 10/5/9.)