468

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

[No. 19

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE--continued

Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for February 1954--continued

LATE RETURNS

| Te Aroha, Jan., 1954 | 46 | 80.0 | 56.0 | 68.0 | +1.2 | 88.5 | 30 | 40.0 | 31 | 0.59 | 5 | -3.01 | 0.17 | 6 | ... |
| Dannevirke, Oct., 1953 | 685 | 60.9 | 44.4 | 52.6 | ... | 71.0 | 31 | 33.0 | 21 | 4.22 | 19 | (+0.31) | 2.01 | 2 | ... |
| Dannevirke, Nov., 1953 | 685 | 67.2 | 51.0 | 59.1 | ... | 77.4 | 29 | 35.6 | 12 | 2.42 | 8 | (-1.09) | 0.53 | 5 | ... |
| Dannevirke, Dec., 1953 | 685 | 69.5 | 53.0 | 61.2 | ... | 79.1 | 11 | 41.0 | 28 | 4.62 | 14 | (+1.48) | 0.96 | 2 | ... |
| Dannevirke, Jan., 1954 | 685 | 73.0 | 49.9 | 61.4 | ... | 81.7 | 29 | 37.4 | 17 | 0.89 | 6 | (-2.30) | 0.31 | 10 | ... |

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 1921-50. Where observations are not available for the whole period, or where the site of the rain-gauge has been changed, the normals are partly interpolated.

NOTES ON THE WEATHER FOR FEBRUARY 1954

General.--It was the hottest month since February 1938, and one of the hottest on record. Sunshine and also rainfall were appreciably below normal over the greater part of the country. While most districts received more rain than in January, the combined effects of two to four months of dry weather and exceptionally high temperature have caused a serious shortage of green feed in most North Island districts. The rain which fell on the last two days of the month brought some relief to the Auckland Province, but in Hawke's Bay the drought has continued.

Dairy production has become rather low in most districts, but sheep are mainly in good condition. It has been a good season for potatoes.

Heavy rain on the 2nd caused serious flooding locally to the east of Nelson City, and also in north Taranaki.

Rainfall.--Rainfall was less than half the normal value over the greater part of the North Island and also over Marlborough, except for the Sounds. Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa received less than a quarter of their usual rainfall. The only parts of the North Island in which there was no appreciable deficiency were Taranaki and the Horowhenua district, where conditions were about normal.

Most of the South Island received a little less rain than usual, but for the West Coast it was a wet month. The surplus was greatest in North Westland and Buller, where several stations reported totals between 20 in. and 41 in. of which more than half fell on the first five days of the month.

Temperatures.--Temperatures were above normal over the whole country, with departures from 3° F. to 5° F. over the greater part of the North Island and also over Canterbury. There has not been a warmer February in Christchurch in fifty years of records.

Maximum temperatures were recorded on the 2nd, when in eastern districts from Oamaru to Hastings thermometers rose above 90° F. and in places passed 95° F.

Sunshine.--Sunshine was below normal, except about the Southland coast. The deficiency exceeded an hour a day over most of the North Island south of Hamilton, and also over Nelson, Westland, and South Canterbury.

Weather Sequence.--The month opened with several days of unsettled weather. From the 1st to the 3rd a moist north-westerly to westerly airstream covered New Zealand as three successive depressions passed near or over Southland. Most areas received some rain, but falls were light and rather inadequate in eastern and northern districts. Heavy rain disrupted road and rail communications in Westland and caused flooding in North Taranaki, Marlborough Sounds, and about Nelson City.

From the 4th to the 7th several weak troughs passed over the country in a general south-westerly airstream. Conditions remained unsettled in western and southern districts of the South Island with considerable rain, and there were light falls in most other districts. During the second quarter pressures remained high over the whole country. There was rain again on the 10th about the western and southern coasts of the South Island with the passage of a weak trough of low pressure, but otherwise the weather was fine and warm. A small depression from Queensland passed to the south of Stewart Island on the evening of the 13th, and the associated trough caused rain over most of the South Island during its slow northward movement on the 14th and 15th. In the North Island a few districts benefited, but for the most part the weather still remained warm and dry.

Another anticyclone soon moved on to the country, and the weather became generally fine, but conditions deteriorated again on the West Coast on the 18th with the approach of another trough of low pressure from the west. On the following day rain spread to Southland, central districts, and Auckland Province. The trough then became stationary over the North Island, and there was some further light rain on the 21st and 22nd, mainly in Hawke's Bay, Gisborne, and Rotorua-Taupo.

On the 22nd and 23rd the weather was generally fine under the influence of an anticyclone centred to the east. For a considerable part of the country, mainly from North Otago to Manawatu, the fine spell persisted for the remainder of the month.

A vigorous tropical cyclone which had crossed the New Hebrides on the 15th was over New South Wales on the 21st, where it caused widespread floods. Moving rapidly down through a trough which had arrived from the west, the cyclone passed away south of the Tasman Sea on the 24th. Advancing eastwards the trough caused rain in western and southern districts of the South Island from the 24th to the 26th, while a shallow disturbance from the north brought unsettled weather to Gisborne and parts of Hawke's Bay. On the last two days of the month the weak trough continued eastwards on to the North Island. The weather cleared in those districts where rain had been falling, but deteriorated over Taranaki, and also over the greater part of the Auckland Province, where the first moderate falls of rain for many weeks were greatly appreciated.

M. A. F. BARNETT, Director,

(N.Z. Met. S. Misc. Pub. 107)