1354
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE
No. 58

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for August 1959—continued

LATE RETURNS

Waerengi-o-Kuri, July 1959 | 1,130 | 52·7 | 36·2 | 44·4 | −1·8 | 60·1 | 28 | 24·1 | 11 | 7·05 | 12 | +1·74 | 2·21 | 26 | ..
Dannevirke, June 1959 .. | 685 | 53·0 | 36·7 | 44·8 | .. | 60·5 | 13 | 26·7 | 30 | 1·16 | 9 | −2·97 | 0·52 | 22 | ..
Dannevirke, July 1959 .. | 685 | 51·9 | 36·6 | 44·2 | .. | 61·0 | 28 | 25·7 | 22 | 2·91 | 16 | −0·81 | 1·29 | 26 | ..
Invercargill, July 1959 .. | 8 | 50·1 | 37·3 | 43·7 | +2·0* | 58·0 | 16 | 31·2 | 1, 7 | 2·63 | 24 | −0·34 | 0·52 | 3 | ..

NOTE—At stations where departures from normal have an asterisk, the temperature record has been maintained for less than 10 years, the rainfall record for less than 20 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 AUGUST 1959

General: August was comparatively dry and sunny over the greater part of the country, Northland and Gisborne being the chief exceptions. It was a good month for stock, and the absence of prolonged spells of cold wet weather made conditions particularly favourable for lambing. In some areas pastures were reported to be suffering from lack of rain.

The winter season as a whole has been unusually dry and sunny over most of the South Island and the southern half of the Wellington Province.

Rainfall: Rainfall was less than half the average value over the greater part of the South Island and in southern and western districts of the North Island. On the Kaikoura coast, the Canterbury Plains, and inland North Otago totals were mainly below half an inch and for some stations it was the driest August on record.

The only areas with rainfall somewhat above normal were Northland and Coromandel, Gisborne and northern Hawke’s Bay, and parts of Southland.

For the winter season, June to August, Wellington received 6·17 in., the lowest rainfall ever recorded for this period. Dunedin received 3·25 in., the lowest since 1859.

Temperatures: Temperatures were about a degree above average in the North Island and in parts of Nelson and Marlborough. Elsewhere they were close to normal.

Sunshine: Over most northern and eastern districts of the South Island and in the southern half of the Wellington Province sunshine was 20–60 hours above average. In the same areas the total sunshine for the winter season was the highest for at least 27 years; for Masterton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Ashburton it was the highest on record.

Weather Sequence: On the 1st most of the country enjoyed fair weather under the influence of a large anticyclone centred to the east, but rain commenced in Northland with the approach of a complex depression across the North Tasman Sea. As the depression crossed the North Island during the next three days rain spread over the remainder of the North Island and parts of the South Island. Some considerable falls were reported in Northland and Nelson.

From the 5th to the 8th pressures were high to the north and very low to the south, and winds were mainly westerlies and north-westerlies. The weather was fair in most eastern districts, but elsewhere it was unsettled, with rain.

For the next four days an anticyclone was centred far to the east, with a ridge of high pressure over the South Island. Two depressions moved from the Tasman Sea past North Cape, and the first later reached the coast off Gisborne. Rain affected the greater part of the North Island, but especially northern and eastern districts.