548
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE
No. 27

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

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 MARCH 1960

General: March was cloudy and cool, and unsettled in the last three weeks. It was a good month for stock, and rain was adequate for growth. The good rains of the second week were particularly welcome in Wairarapa and Canterbury after the comparatively dry spell back to the beginning of the year. Early frosts affected some vegetable crops in the North Island.

Rainfall: Rainfall was somewhat above average over the greater part of the country. In parts of Central Otago and Nelson it was double the normal value.

It was appreciably drier than average in Fiordland, on the Southland plain, and in western Northland.

On the 29th a violent thunderstorm with heavy hail affected parts of Central Canterbury and southern districts of the Wellington Province. At Paraparaumu the hailstones were the size of marbles, and both here and around Christchurch windows were broken.

Temperatures: Temperatures were below average, except in Taranaki and on the West Coast. The deficit was mainly 1–2 degrees, but was somewhat higher in inland districts of the South Island.

Snow was reported to have fallen on the ranges during three spells of southerly winds about the 12th, 25th, and 29th.

Sunshine: Except in parts of the West Coast, sunshine was below average, and the deficit exceeded 30 hours over most of the country. Parts of Wairarapa, Marlborough, South Canterbury, and North Otago received 50–80 hours less than the normal sunshine.

Weather Sequence: During the first four days of the month an anticyclone was moving across the South Island. The weather was fair or fine, apart from a few showers in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay on the 2nd. For the next three days the anticyclone was centred to the east, while a depression moved into the Tasman Sea from the north. Rain spread over Northland and Auckland, but elsewhere the weather remained fair.

From the 8th to the 10th the depression over the Tasman Sea moved southward past Southland, while pressure remained high to the east. The rain area spread further to include North Taranaki and Bay of Plenty and also all of the South Island except coastal districts of Canterbury and Otago. The weather soon deteriorated over the remaining parts of the country with the slow passage of a trough of low pressure from the 11th to the 15th; while at the same time a depression moved from near New Caledonia to North Cape and down the east coast of the Auckland Province. The trough was associated with a change to cold south-easterlies with snow well down on the ranges in parts of Otago and Southland. The weather cleared from the west and south with rising pressures and by the 16th it was fair in nearly all districts.

From the 17th to the 20th an anticyclone moved across the South Island and pressures were high over the whole country. Nevertheless a weak trough which remained almost stationary off the coast of the Auckland Province caused considerable rain in eastern and northern districts of the North Island, and showers also occurred at times in the South Island. Pressures remained low to the north, and on the 21st and 22nd the weather deteriorated over the remainder of the North Island with the passage of a shallow depression down the east coast of the Auckland Province; considerable rain was reported from Auckland to Hamilton and New Plymouth.