Jan. 25] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE 83

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—continued

Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for December, 1950—continued

LATE RETURNS

| Kaipara Heads, Nov., 1950 | 54 | 69·9 | 57·6 | 63·8 | .. | 75·9 | 9 | 51·2 | 5 | 3·25 | 12 | .. | 1·66 | 19 | .. |
| Oratia, Henderson, Nov., 1950 | 138 | 69·0 | 53·2 | 61·1 | .. | 79·3 | 5 | 45·5 | 5 | 8·13 | 11 | .. | 3·90 | 6 | .. |
| Te Aroha, Nov., 1950 | 46 | 71·1 | 53·4 | 62·2 | +1·6| 79·5 | 8 | 44·5 | 29 | 7·78 | 15 | +3·89 | 3·49 | 19 | .. |
| Appleby, Nelson, Nov., 1950 | 57 | 70·0 | 48·5 | 59·2 | +1·6| 79·5 | 25 | 39·8 | 4 | 0·29 | 3 | (—2·51) | 0·18 | 17 | .. |
| Golden Downs, Nov., 1950 | 900 | 67·2 | 42·6 | 54·9 | +0·6| 74·0 | 25 | 31·5 | 4 | 0·69 | 5 | (—3·05) | 0·26 | 1 | .. |
| Haast, Nov., 1950 | 15 | 61·8 | 44·8 | 53·3 | .. | 71·2 | 6 | 37·4 | 18 | 10·34| 15 | .. | 3·22 | 29 | 219·3 |

NOTE.—At stations where departures from normal are in parentheses, the temperature record has been maintained for less than ten years, the rainfall record for less than twenty years, and the normals are partly interpolated.

NOTES ON THE WEATHER FOR DECEMBER, 1950

General.—Windy westerly conditions for the first half of the month were followed by a week of fine summer weather. The cool wet weather of the last quarter came as a big disappointment to thousands of holiday makers. On the whole the month was very favourable for farming. Heavy crops of hay are being harvested but some difficulty has been experienced in picking fruit which ripened towards the end of the month. Stock is reported to be in excellent condition.

Rainfall.—Rainfall was somewhat deficient in Otago and Southland (except the western parts), and also in Hawke’s Bay and Auckland. Elsewhere totals were above average, though generally by small amounts. A few districts had double the normal rainfall, including the southern tip of the North Island, the northern Sounds of Marlborough, and scattered parts of Taranaki.

It is worth noting that the rainfall distribution was almost the reverse of the previous month’s, in that those districts with excess rain in November experienced a drier December than usual, and vice versa.

Temperatures.—Mean temperatures were slightly below average in the southern half of the South Island, chiefly due to a cold spell towards the end of the month. Elsewhere it was warmer than usual especially in the area from National Park to the Bay of Plenty when the departure was about 3° F.

One or two light frosts were recorded in the south and in elevated inland districts of the North Island towards the end of the month.

Sunshine.—North of Cook Strait the duration of bright sunshine was close to the average except in the Hawke’s Bay - Gisborne region where there was a deficiency of 20-30 hours. In Westland too there was a moderate deficiency. Canterbury and Otago both had more sunshine than is usual for December, the largest surplus being measured at Dunedin.

Weather Sequence.—A trough lying across Nelson and Marlborough continued northwards and passed off the North Island on the morning of the 2nd. Moderate south-westerly winds predominated for the next few days during the advance of a large anticyclone across the Tasman Sea, and apart from a few scattered showers the weather was fair.

With the passage of a deep depression in the far south on the 5th winds turned temporarily to the north-west and rose to gale force about Cook and Foveaux Straits. Next day the associated cold front brought a period of heavy rain and some thunderstorms to Westland and Southland, but it was much less vigorous when crossing the North Island on the night of the 7th.

After a rapid journey across the South Tasman an exceptionally deep depression passed to the south on the 9th while its cold front accompanied by heavy squalls crossed the Dominion from the south-west. During the next two days there were several showery periods in the South Island, especially in the south and west, while some showers also extended northwards to Taranaki.

On the 13th winds became variable when a wedge of high pressure moved onto the South Island leaving a shallow trough across the Cook Strait region. Rain fell intermittently throughout the day about the Central Provinces, and later it spread a little further northwards before the trough dissipated.

Ahead of the extensive trough from another deep depression centred far to the south winds turned north-easterly on the 14th later becoming strong on the east coast of the South Island. Accompanied by heavy rain the trough travelled across the country on the 16th. It was closely followed by a large anticyclone which settled over the Dominion bringing a spell of fine summer weather.

A very extensive rain-belt accompanied a trough which reached Southland from the south-west on the 23rd. Substantial rainfalls were recorded as it advanced northwards to become stationary and considerably weaker over South Auckland by the 26th. Meanwhile an anticyclone in the South Tasman extended on to the South Island bringing a temporary clearance.

With the approach of a deep and complex disturbance from the north-west rain became general on the 27th. By the time the main centre crossed the northern part of the South Island on the night of the 28th, rainfall in substantial amounts had been recorded over the greater part of the country and cold southerlies had advanced northwards to Cook Strait. During this storm a launch was wrecked at Tauranga with the loss of 22 lives.

Cold clear weather spread rapidly from the south and west with the arrival of an anticyclone over the South Island on the 29th. Some light frost occurred in sheltered inland districts. However, in the Auckland and Hawke’s Bay provinces light rain continued to fall intermittently due to a trough which had become stationary to the east.

M. A. F. BARNETT, Director.

(N.Z.M.O. 107.)