582
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE
No. 26

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for February 1973—continued

The ‘normal’ refers to the present site of the instruments. Standard periods for normals are: Temperature 1931–60, Rainfall 1921–50, Sunshine 1935–60. No normals are available for stations with only short records.

*Indicates that the sunshine recorder is not located at the station but is in the near vicinity.

A rain day is a day with rainfall equal to or greater than 0.1 mm.

Where the extremes of temperature and rainfall have occurred more than once during the month, the date of the first occurrence is given.

NOTES ON THE WEATHER FOR FEBRUARY 1973

General—Pressures were unusually high over New Zealand in February, and this was one of the driest months on record, besides being sunny and warm with some exceptionally high temperatures. January had also been dry, and the greater part of the country made little pasture growth during February. Drought conditions became fairly general.

Rainfall—Over the whole country rainfall was only a quarter of the normal value. Negligible amounts of less than a tenth of the normal were recorded over about half the North Island, mainly in western districts; also in many inland districts of the South Island, in Nelson and most of Marlborough, and in coastal North Otago.

In the North Island this month was not as dry as January 1908.

The only areas with rainfall about normal were Fiordland, with Stewart Island and parts of South Westland, where nearly all the rain fell in the first 10 days; and also some of Gisborne and Northern Hawke’s Bay.

Temperatures—Temperatures were mainly above normal by up to 3°C, with highest departures over inland South Island districts and the Canterbury Plains. It was very warm east of the ranges from the 4th to the 7th. Until this time the record high temperature for New Zealand was 38°C. However, on the 7th most stations in Canterbury exceeded this value, and a new record of 42°C was established at Christchurch, Rangiora, and Jordan, in the Awatere Valley of Marlborough. New station records were also established in parts of Marlborough, Nelson, and Hawke’s Bay.

Sunshine—Sunshine was mainly 30–70 hours above normal. Records were broken at Auckland with 267 hours and Nelson with 281 hours. However, sunshine was only about normal in eastern Bay of Plenty with Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay, and also in parts of Otago and Southland.

Weather Sequence—The first 10 days of February were marked by westerly weather with considerable rain in Fiordland and south Westland, and some rain also at times in Southland, the remainder of the West Coast, and Manawatu. This period was also marked by warm temperatures in eastern districts. During the first 2 days an anticyclone was centred near the Chatham Islands and a depression south of Macquarie Island, while a trough of low pressure crossed the South Island. Conditions remained very similar on the 3rd and 4th except that a small centre of high pressure was now also situated just west of Northland.

During the next 3 days another depression near Macquarie Island moved eastward and further troughs crossed the South Island. The 7th was marked by exceptionally high temperatures east of the ranges. On the following day a trough brought southerlies and cooler temperatures with showers in the Gisborne ranges. By the 9th an anticyclone covered the North Island and extended well to the east, and pressures were still low near Macquarie Island. On this and the following day a few showers extended to Bay of Plenty.

During the 11th and 12th a trough of low pressure brought a southerly change with rain in most eastern districts. For the remaining 16 days of the month pressures were unusually high over New Zealand and the weather was for the most part sunny and dry. However, Gisborne and parts of Hawke’s Bay benefited from appreciable rain at times in the south-easterlies, especially on the 16th, 17th, 22nd, and 26th. A small depression brought rain to most of Northland on the 22nd.

J. F. GABITES, Director.

(N.Z. Met. S. Misc. Pub. 107)