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

LATE RETURNS

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 OCTOBER 1959

General: October was a cool month over most of the country with an unusually high frequency of southerly and easterly winds.
Anticyclonic conditions predominated over the South Island, while a series of depressions travelled from the north Tasman Sea south-eastwards across the North Island, causing some heavy falls of rain in eastern districts of the North Island.
In the North Island growth was slow at the beginning of the month but improved later. With the flush of growth there were some reports of bloat in dairy herds. Good rains in the middle of the month brought welcome relief to dried-up pastures in Canterbury, but in parts of Otago farmers were still finding the weather too dry. A late snowfall caused some lamb losses in the south, but generally it was regarded as a good lambing season in the South Island.
Snow fell in the central North Island between the 3rd and 7th, and some heavy falls were recorded in inland Canterbury between the 14th and 17th.
Rainfall: In East Coast areas of the North Island and eastern Bay of Plenty rainfall was about double the average amount. Near Napier, where there was an exceptionally heavy fall of 6·39 in. on the 15th, the monthly totals were up to four times the average. Only about half the average rainfall occurred in Nelson and Central Otago, and on the West Coast, while the remainder of the country received about the normal October rainfall.
Temperatures: It was colder than usual by about 1 to 3 degrees south of Wanganui and Gisborne. Highest departures of 2 to 4 degrees were experienced in eastern districts of the South Island. In Canterbury it was the coldest October since 1945.
In the Auckland and Taranaki provinces temperatures were close to or somewhat above normal.
Sunshine: The whole of the South Island received more sunshine than usual and on the West Coast totals up to 90 hours above average were recorded.
By contrast, except in Taranaki, sunshine was below normal in the North Island, the deficit being large on the East Coast. Gisborne had a record low total, being 83 hours below its average value.
Weather Sequence: For the first four days of the month pressure was very low to the south of New Zealand and a series of fronts passed over the country in a cold west to south-west airflow. The showers, which were heavy in some areas, affected mainly west coast districts.
On the 5th a depression moved on to the Tasman Sea near Lord Howe Island and advanced towards the Auckland peninsula retarding a cold front which lay across the central North Island. Rain fell over most of the North Island on the 5th and 6th while the South Island experienced mainly fair weather under the influence of an anticyclone moving from the west.
The anticyclone with centre about latitude 45 S covered the country by the 8th, and except for North Auckland where easterly winds caused light rain, fair weather prevailed until the 11th.
The intense anticyclone split into two cells, one to the east and one to the west of New Zealand, and on the 11th another series of cold fronts moved on the South Island. They caused some heavy falls in Westland and some rain over most of the country during the following two days.