696
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE
No. 30

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—continued
Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for April 1956—continued

†Observations for 23 days.

LATE RETURNS

| Oratia, Henderson, March 1956 | 138 | 72·4 | 52·5 | 62·4 | +0·2 | 79·6 | 7 | 38·1 | 21 | 1·21 | 11 | —2·71 | 0·42 | 5 | .. |
| The Hermitage, February 1956 | 2,510 | 68·5 | 47·7 | 58·1 | +2·3 | 80·0 | 11 | 39·0 | 7 | 6·80 | 6 | —8·38 | 2·80 | 12 | .. |
| The Hermitage, March 1956 | 2,510 | 63·6 | 43·5 | 53·6 | —0·5 | 76·0 | 9 | 31·2 | 15 | 5·90 | 6 | —9·79 | 3·30 | 17 | .. |

NOTE.—At stations where departures from normal have an asterisk, 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 APRIL 1956

General: April was exceptionally warm and humid. Growth was unusually good for this time of the year and in many districts adequate winter feed was assured. However, over a large part of the North Island excessive rains made the ground very wet and caterpillars were proving troublesome. As in the previous month, there were some outbreaks of facial eczema, especially in Taranaki and Manawatu.

A tropical cyclone which moved slowly down the west coast of the North Island from the 4th to the 8th caused strong easterly gales and heavy rain over the Auckland Province with some serious flooding in parts of Northland.

There was an unusually high frequency of winds from a westerly quarter, especially from the 11th to the 28th. During the period thunderstorms were reported rather frequently in western districts, and on the 20th no less than three small tornadoes caused local damage in Westland.

Rainfall: Rainfall was more than double the normal value over almost the whole of the Auckland Province and also in parts of Taranaki, Nelson, and Marlborough. In some districts, especially in the Auckland Province, it was the wettest April on record. For Whangarei, with a total of 21·94 in., it was the wettest of any month in nearly fifty years of observations; while Auckland’s 14·14 in. almost equalled the previous record of 14·15 in. which has stood since February 1869.

Over most of the remainder of the country rainfall was close to or somewhat above normal. However, in Southland and in parts of Wairarapa and Canterbury it was appreciably drier than usual.

Tangihanga, inland from East Cape, received no less than 44 in. of rain during the month, of which 31 in. fell in the week from the 3rd to the 9th; 12·8 in. fell on the 9th alone.

Temperatures: It was the warmest April on record, the previous warmest being in 1938. Departures from normal were mainly 6 degrees in the North Island and 5 degrees in the South Island. In most districts April was appreciably warmer than March. Features of the month were the unusually high night temperatures and the uniform warmth, with an absence of cold spells.

Sunshine: Sunshine was below normal over the whole country, and the departure exceeded thirty hours except in some eastern districts of the South Island. For the Auckland Province it was by far the cloudiest April on record. The total of fifty-four hours at Rotorua was the lowest ever recorded in any part of the country in April.

Weather Sequence: At the beginning of the month an anticyclone was centred to the east, and the weather was fine apart from some showers in Northland and Taranaki. On the 2nd a weak trough affected Otago and Southland, but on the following day fair weather prevailed generally under the influence of anticyclones to the east and south.

From the 4th to the 8th was a period of moderate to heavy rain over the Auckland Province, with flooding in parts of Northland and strong easterly gales at times. This weather was caused by the presence of a tropical cyclone which had moved southward from near Fiji. At first it remained almost stationary off North Cape, but on the 6th it commenced to move down the west coast of the North Island. A second tropical cyclone following a similar path from the tropics arrived off North Cape the following day. Other parts of the country as far south as Christchurch received some rain at the same time as Auckland. However, as the first centre moved to the east of the South Island on the 9th and 10th, Otago and Southland benefited from light rain, while in the north only a few showers were reported.