4 JULY

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for May 1968—continued

LATE RETURNS

| Leigh, April 1968 | .. | 100 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 134 |
| Kaitoke, April 1968 | .. | 625 | 60.8 | 45.7 | 53.2 | .. | 74.0 | 1 | 30.8 | 17 | 9.30 | 17 | .. | 2.43 | 9 | 102 |
| Alexandra, April 1968 | .. | 461 | 59.4 | 40.0 | 49.7 | -1.7 | 77.9 | 8 | 23.5 | 15 | 2.11 | 9 | +0.8 | 0.68 | 23 | 129 |

The “normal” refers to the present site of the instruments. The standard periods for normals are: for temperature 1931–60, for rainfall 1921–50, and for sunshine 1935–60. No normals are available for stations with only short records.

*Sunshine recorder is not located at the station but is in the near vicinity.

NOTES ON THE WEATHER FOR MAY 1968

General—May was a mild month marked by an unusually high frequency of north-westerly winds. Many farmers considered the growth was good for the time of the year. However, in some places it was too wet and in parts of North Otago foot-rot was reported in sheep.

Tornadoes caused some damage on 3 days: On the 7th in two suburbs of Auckland, Kohimarama and Manurewa; on the 21st in Cooper’s Beach, Northland; and on the 29th at least two occurred in Bay of Plenty, near and to the east of Tauranga.

Rainfall—Rainfall was above average by 40–70 percent in western and inland districts, also in Nelson and Marlborough. It was below average by about the same amount in nearly all eastern districts including eastern Northland and eastern Southland.

Over the greater part of the North Island the second half of the month was much wetter than the first half. In northern districts of the North Island the second half was also marked by an unusually high frequency of thunderstorms.

Temperatures—Temperatures were above average by 2–4 degrees in the South Island and in southern districts of the North Island and Taihape. Over the greater part of the North Island they were close to or slightly above average.

There was a cold southerly spell from the 6th to the 9th, affecting especially eastern and southern districts of the North Island.

Sunshine—Sunshine was below average by 10–40 hours over most of the South Island and in Wellington and Taranaki. It was above average by the same amount in Northland, Waikato, Waitomo and Gisborne.

Weather Sequence—Westerly weather predominated for the first 5 days, a continuation of the westerly spell during the last 3 days of April. Rain was confined mainly to western districts of both islands and Southland. A shallow depression over the South Tasman Sea moved south-eastward and the associated trough of low pressure crossed New Zealand. On the 4th a trough associated with a deeper depression far to the southwest brought rain to more of the country, but most eastern districts still remained dry.

On the 6th a depression developed east of the North Island, and winds changed to cold southerlies, bringing fairly general rain. An anticyclone moved rapidly eastward over the South Tasman Sea and with rising pressures the weather soon improved over the South Island. However, the depression remained east of the North Island for 3 more days and moved away only slowly. Southerlies became stronger in some areas on the 8th, reaching storm force about Cook Strait and seriously affecting shipping. The weather cleared in the north and west of the North Island on the 8th but very heavy rain persisted about the East Coast ranges; and on the 9th temperatures were still cold in the southerlies, with showers in Wairarapa and about the East Coast ranges.

From the 10th to the 13th the anticyclone was centred over New Zealand, moving slowly north-eastward; and the weather remained settled.

By the 14th a depression covered the North Tasman Sea and a trough of low pressure extended from there to another depression which formed over Southland and moved eastward on the following day. On these 2 days considerable rain was reported on the West Coast and in the Alps and some also in Southland. The depression over the North Tasman Sea next deepened and moved eastward, dividing into two centres. During the 16th and 17th one of these crossed Northland, and the other crossed Southland. Rain was fairly general, the main exception being parts of Hawke’s Bay and Canterbury. A temporary improvement occurred in many districts on the following day with the passage of a small anticyclone across the South Island.