24 MARCH THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE 393

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

LATE RETURNS

Te Paki, Te Hapua, Jan 1960 | 200 | 74·8 | 58·6 | 66·7 | +2·0 | 80·4 | 29, 31 | 45·0 | 1 | 0·92 | 5 | −2·47 | 0·49 | 6 | 248
Dannevirke, Jan 1960 | 685 | 72·3 | 54·2 | 63·2 | .. | 81·0 | 28 | 36·9 | 1 | 1·45 | 9 | −1·74* | 0·39 | 24| ..

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 FEBRUARY 1960

General: February was particularly wet, cloudy, and warm over the northern half of the North Island. In all districts good rains were welcome after January’s dry weather. In the Auckland Province dairy production was reported to have recovered after the set-back in January. On the other hand, in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay conditions were too wet and also too cloudy and humid for the fruit crops, some of which were attacked by fungus diseases. In Canterbury it was a good season for wheat, but in South Canterbury the dry weather was still retarding pasture growth.

Rainfall: Rainfall was double the average value over most of the Auckland Province. It was also somewhat above average about Cook Strait and in parts of Southland.

For Te Aroha, with 17·42 in. of rain, it was the wettest February in 54 years of observation.

Many thunderstorms were reported over the North Island on the 2nd. In the Bay of Plenty and Rotorua total rainfalls for the three days 2–4 February were as high as 6–12 in. at many stations. Serious flooding occurred in Opotiki on the 4th.

In Canterbury and Wairarapa it was appreciably drier than usual, the deficiency being mainly 40 to 60 per cent.

Temperatures: Temperatures were about two degrees above average from Wanganui northward. They were a degree above average in Nelson and on the West Coast.

Sunshine: Sunshine was below average by 45–75 hours in coastal districts from Napier to Tauranga and also in eastern Northland. In other parts of the North Island it was also somewhat below average.

Most western and southern districts of the South Island were favoured with about 30 hours more sunshine than usual.

Weather Sequence: At the beginning of the month an anticyclone was centred east of the North Island, but conditions were already commencing to deteriorate in the west and north with the advance of a trough of low pressure across the Tasman Sea. A shallow depression developed in the trough and remained near the North Island during the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, while the trough itself moved only very slowly across the country. This was a period of northerly winds and considerable rain over the North Island, with some rain also over most of the South Island. Many thunderstorms were reported on the night of the 2nd, and by the 4th flood waters covered the town of Opotiki. Conditions improved in most districts on the 5th as the depression and trough moved away to the east; and on the following day an anticyclone centred over the North Island brought a brief spell of generally settled weather to the whole country.

Pressure remained high over the North Island, but a trough of low pressure affected the South Island on the 7th and 8th bringing rain, except to Canterbury and Otago. As the trough became slow moving for the next three days some other areas received a period of rain in turn, namely Otago, eastern districts from Napier