21 AUG.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE 1393

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—continued

Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for July 1952—continued

LATE RETURN

Appleby, Nelson, June 1952 | 57 | 53·9 | 37·8 | 45·8 | +0·0 | 60·8 | 2 | 25·4 | 20 | 6·32 | 20 | (+2·68) | 1·25 | 22 | ..

*The Invercargill station (Mr. L. J. Lennie, observer) has been closed. The station formerly known as Invercargill South will now be known as Invercargill.

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. Rainfall normals have been revised and now refer to the standard period 1921–1950. Where observations are not available for the whole period, or where the site of the raingauge has been changed, the normals are partly interpolated.

NOTES ON THE WEATHER FOR JULY 1952

General.—July was a cool sunny month with low rainfall. The unsettled weather which had persisted throughout June continued on into the first quarter of July, but after the 9th came a long spell of peaceful, anticyclonic weather. In South Canterbury and Hawke’s Bay the low rainfall since the beginning of the year has resulted in shortages of winter feed. In the latter district losses among hoggets and early lambs have been rather high on some farms. Elsewhere, farm stock was reported to be in fair to good condition.

Rainfall.—A small area near Alexandra was the only part of the country with rainfall up to normal, in fact few places received even half the normal July rainfall. In most of Hawke’s Bay there has not been a drier July since 1914, while Whangarei has not recorded a lower July rainfall since the record commenced forty-three years ago.

Temperature.—Mean temperatures were below normal. The departure was, in general, about 1° F. but slightly above 2° F. over Nelson, Bay of Plenty, and a few scattered districts inland. Frosts were more numerous than usual and often severe, especially about the middle of the month.

Sunshine.—The duration of bright sunshine was substantially above normal except in Northland and Southland where it was close to normal. Blenheim and Nelson, with an average of over seven hours sunshine a day, or two hours a day better than normal, both established new records for July sunshine, as did Tauranga, Rotorua, and Hanmer.

Weather Sequence.—At the beginning of the month an extensive depression, with its centre to Southland, covered New Zealand. As it moved away slowly eastwards, strong south-westerly winds and cold showery weather prevailed. A ridge associated with an anticyclone to the north gave a temporary improvement on the 4th.

Another large and complex depression was over New Zealand from the 6th to the 9th bringing further unsettled weather, including a period of general rain. After the main centre moved across the Dominion on the 7th, strong southerlies and cold showery weather again developed in eastern districts.

The approach of a large anticyclone from the west brought a rapid clearance on the 9th, except in eastern districts between East Cape and Cook Strait where there was widespread shower activity for a further two days. The anticyclone slowly enveloped the Dominion resulting in a spell of clear, frosty weather which lasted until the 18th. During this period local fogs formed fairly regularly at night over a wide area, especially in Canterbury where visibility became very low at times.

As the anticyclone moved off to the east there was a temporary change to northerlies on the 18th. On the same day rain developed on the west coast and later spread slowly eastwards across the Dominion during the passage of an active trough. On the 20th southerlies again prevailed, but winds soon became light and variable except in exposed eastern and north-eastern districts of the North Island where changeable showery weather continued until the 24th. Elsewhere the weather cleared on the 21st as an anticyclone from the Tasman Sea gradually extended over the country.

Barometric pressure remained very high over New Zealand and the South Tasman Sea for the rest of the month. It was a period of clear, frosty weather over most of the country. Southland, however, came under the influence of depressions passing in sub-antarctic waters, and showery weather with strong westerly winds predominated there from the 25th to the 27th and again on the 31st. In the north, skies became overcast on the 29th as easterly winds freshened with the approach of a depression from the north. This depression made little further progress southward, and up to the end of the month had caused only scattered light rain in Northland and Coromandel.

(N.Z.M.O. 107) M. A. F. BARNETT, Director.