1684 THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE No. 65

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—continued

Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for September 1955—continued

*Observations for 26 days only.

LATE RETURNS

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 SEPTEMBER 1955

General: Mild temperatures and fairly settled weather for most of the month provided very favourable conditions for the start of the spring season.

Stock were doing well, except that in some districts cattle were subject to bloat. Lambing percentages were reported to be rather poor in eastern districts of the North Island as far north as East Cape, probably as a result of four days of bitterly cold south-easterly winds with rain at the beginning of the month.

Rainfall: Rainfall was more than 25 per cent below normal over Taranaki and most of the Wellington Province, also over the South Island except for Southland and inland Canterbury. Greatest departures were recorded in Nelson and Marlborough which received less than half their usual rainfall.

Totals were above average in Gisborne and Hawke's Bay, mainly by more than 50 per cent.

In most districts the number of rain days was less than usual.

Temperatures: Temperatures were above normal over the whole country. The departure exceeded two degrees in inland districts of the South Island and also in eastern districts of the North Island, from Hawke's Bay to the Bay of Plenty.

Sunshine: Sunshine was appreciably below normal over almost the whole of the North Island, with greatest departures in the far north and in the Manawatu-Wanganui area. For Wanganui, with a total of 123 hours, there has not been a duller September in 19 years of record.

Northern districts of the South Island from Christchurch to Nelson were favoured with somewhat sunnier weather than usual.

Weather Sequence: A depression which had moved to the east of the country at the end of August was still affecting the weather on the first two days of September. With high pressures to the south and west bitterly cold south-easterly winds covered most of New Zealand; there was rain in the North Island and on the east coast of the South Island. With rising pressures conditions improved during the 3rd and 4th, but showers were still reported from Wellington to East Cape.

During the next two days the weather deteriorated from the west and south with the advance of a complex depression on to the South Island and the eastward movement across the country of the associated trough. When a depression passed to the north-east of Auckland on the 7th and 8th, the trough became stationary over the Auckland Province, and rain developed in the North Island and on the east coast of the South Island.

On the 9th an extensive belt of high pressure covered New Zealand and most of the Tasman Sea, and this marked the beginning of a period of mainly settled weather lasting eleven days. For the first three days a depression passing to the north caused some rain over the Auckland and Coromandel Peninsulas. From the 12th to the 16th, with the passage of deep depressions to the south, western and southern districts of the South Island experienced rather unsettled weather; and this extended also to coastal districts from Christchurch to Castlepoint on the 17th as a weak trough of low pressure crossed the country. For the next two days, however, the weather was generally fair or fine.

Conditions deteriorated in many districts on the 20th with the approach of a depression from the north and a trough of low pressure from the south-west. As they both moved over the country on the following day rain became general, with some heavy falls in Northland. A ridge of high pressure over the North Island brought a temporary improvement on the 22nd. For the next four days a trough of low pressure moved slowly north-eastward over New Zealand, and several small depressions developed in it. The trough was accompanied by a wide belt of moderate to heavy rain, except in some inland districts of the South Island.

Showers persisted in a few districts on the 27th, but for the last three days of the month an anticyclone covered the country, bringing fair or fine weather generally.

M. A. F. BARNETT, Director.

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