224.                                                             THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE                                                              No. 13

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for January 1958—continued

LATE RETURNS

| Whatawhata, Dec., 1957 | 340 | 67·0 | 51·3 | 59·2 | .. | 78·5 | 24 | 41·0 | 4, 29 | 5·68 | 17 | .. | 1·69 | 14 | 209 |
| Dannevirke, Nov., 1957 | 685 | 65·2 | 49·4 | 57·3 | .. | 77·8 | 26 | 38·1 | 7 | 4·62 | 16 | +1·11 | 1·02 | 20 | .. |
| Waipiata, Dec., 1957 | 1,550 | 62·2 | 42·2 | 52·2 | —3·8 | 78·3 | 24 | 30·3 | 3 | 2·42 | 13 | +0·23 | 0·70 | 17 | 201 |
| Musselburgh, Dec., 1957| 5 | 63·1 | 48·5 | 55·8 | —1·0 | 81·0 | 26 | 40·8 | 15 | 3·61 | 21 | +0·73 | 0·71 | 17 | 147 |

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 JANUARY 1958

General: As in the previous three months strong westerly winds affected most of the country for the greater part of January. The weather except for East Coast districts of the North Island and Marlborough was cloudier and cooler than usual. Over most of the South Island and in the Wellington Province rainfall was above normal. On the whole stock in these areas have been reported as being in good condition and feed plentiful.

In North Auckland, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay it has been drier than usual and in some places feed is becoming short.

Rainfall: Rainfall was above normal in all South Island districts except Nelson, Marlborough, and Southland while in the North Island only the Wellington Province west of the ranges had more rain than usual.

In parts of Canterbury and on the West Coast, more than twice the normal rainfall was experienced. On the 23rd–24th Hokitika had 11·49 inches which caused severe flooding in the town and surrounding district. The total of 8·58 inches on the 23rd was the second highest daily rainfall ever recorded at Hokitika, being only exceeded by a fall of 9·17 inches in February 1935.

Ashburton suffered a severe hailstorm and thunderstorm on the 4th which caused some flooding in the town.

In Auckland and all East Coast districts of the North Island, rainfalls were below average with many areas in Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay and Bay of Plenty reporting only 10–20 per cent of the normal rainfall.

Temperatures: Temperatures were below normal by 1–2 degrees over the whole of the South Island excluding Marlborough and in west coast districts south of Auckland in the North Island. Elsewhere the average temperature was 1–2 degrees warmer than usual.

In the first week of the month falls of snow were reported from upland Otago and Canterbury while Ruapehu and Mount Egmont had heavy falls.

Towards the end of the month temperatures became higher than usual in Canterbury and Auckland where on the 29th a section of the Main Trunk railway line was buckled by heat.

Sunshine: The East Coast of the North Island, Bay of Plenty and Marlborough districts were the only areas with more sunshine than usual, the greatest departures being about an hour a day.

Over the rest of the country there was up to an hour and a half a day less sunshine than usual except for Central Otago where in some parts the deficit was more than two hours.

Alexandra’s total of 166 hours was considerably less than the previous January record low total of 194 hours in 1949. Waipiata with a total of 152 hours also had much less than the January record low of 183 hours in 1952.

Weather Sequence for January 1958

On New Year’s Day a depression moved across central districts of the South Island giving moderate rainfalls while the associated frontal system caused general light rain over most of the remainder of the country. Until the 10th the weather was largely influenced by the approach of a slow-moving anticyclone from the Australian Bight into the north Tasman Sea giving a south-west to west flow over much of the country. In this flow moved a series of cold fronts which gave little rain except in Otago, Canterbury, and Cook Strait. Snowfalls were reported from inland districts in Otago and Canterbury from the 1st–5th and from Ruapehu on the 5th.

On the 7th a depression which had formed in the North Tasman Sea moved across the Auckland peninsula, its effect being reinforced by a tropical storm which had moved southwards. These low pressure systems gave rain in Northland on the 7th and 8th while the rest of the country was still in the westerly flow.