260 THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE No. 14

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for January 1960—continued

LATE RETURNS

| Te Aroha, Dec. 1959 | 46 | 74·0 | 56·3 | 65·2 | +0·9 | 83·2 | 2 | 46·0 | 1 | 8·80 | 13 | +5·38 | 1·84 | 24 | .. |
| Kuripapanga, Dec. 1959 | 1,600 | 68·2 | 47·4 | 57·8 | .. | 78·4 | 7 | 39·7 | 27 | 2·92 | 12 | .. | 0·93 | 15 | .. |
| Dannevirke, Nov. 1959 | 685 | 64·8 | 46·9 | 55·8 | .. | 76·0 | 19 | 30·9 | 12 | 1·88 | 10 | −1·63| 0·44 | 29 | .. |
| Dannevirke, Dec 1959 | 685 | 70·4 | 51·9 | 61·1 | .. | 78·0 | 2 | 38·0 | 1 | 1·99 | 10 | −1·15| 1·22 | 15 | .. |
| Wallaceville, Dec. 1959 | 195 | 68·4 | 51·7 | 60·0 | +2·0 | 76·5 | 26 | 42·2 | 18 | 3·42 | 9 | −1·07 | 1·88 | 9 | 177|
| Ophir, Dec. 1959 | 1,000 | 71·4 | 49·2 | 60·3 | +2·0 | 79·0 | 28 | 33·5 | 31 | 3·09 | 10 | +1·27 | 1·00 | 26 | .. |
| Invercargill, Dec. 1959 | 8 | 65·5 | 50·7 | 58·1 | +2·3 | 77·0 | 20 | 39·6 | 31 | 2·84 | 12 | −0·84 | 0·52 | 9 | .. |

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 JANUARY 1960

General: Over the whole country January was a warm, windy month and except for west coast districts south of Hokitika, generally very dry.

The effect of rain which had fallen during the month was largely nullified in most areas by the drying effect of persistent winds from a westerly quarter. By the end of the month pastures were in many places badly in need of rain. Fruit crops, however, were being harvested under good conditions.

Rainfall: Rainfall was below average in the North Island except in Waitomo and northern Hawke’s Bay where it was about average. In eastern districts of North Auckland only about one-quarter of the normal rain fell. Over most of the rest of the North Island it was about one-half the usual.

Westland, the Southern Alps, and parts of Southland had up to one and a half times the average, but in all other South Island areas the rainfall was deficient, being only about one-half the average in Canterbury, the Wairau Valley of Marlborough, and Nelson.

Thunderstorms were reported in many parts of the North Island on the 6th. A rather violent thunderstorm affected western and southernmost districts of the South Island on the 28th and 29th, with 13½ in. of rain in the two days at Milford Sound.

Temperatures: Temperatures were everywhere above average. In Nelson it was 4–5 degrees warmer than usual, while Central Otago and parts of Canterbury had departures of 3–4 degrees. Over the rest of the country it was generally 1–2 degrees warmer.

Strong NW winds brought very high temperatures to Canterbury in the mid-month. Christchurch having a maximum of 97 on the 17th.

In the North Island temperatures over 90 were recorded during the 28th–30th at several places in the Bay of Islands, Bay of Plenty, and Hawke’s Bay.

Snow fell on some of the higher North Island mountains from the 5th to the 7th.

Sunshine: Sunshine was below average except in North Auckland, Nelson, Otago, and parts of inland Canterbury. Greatest deficits of 40–60 hours were reported in Taranaki and in inland areas from Taupo to Palmerston North.

Weather Sequence: At the beginning of the month an anticyclone centred west of Auckland covered most of the country giving predominately fair weather. A cold front which moved on to the South Island on the 2nd gave heavy rain on the west coast but only scattered light rain in east coast districts. A small depression formed on this front over the North Island on the 4th bringing