28 FEBRUARY

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

391

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE--Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for January 1974--continued

The "normal" refers to the present site of the instruments. Standard periods for normals are: Temperature 1931-60, Rainfall 1941-70
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 JANUARY 1974

General--Barometers were high over the South Island in January
and there was a comparatively high frequency of southerly to
easterly winds. It was a dry month, with the driest, warmest, and
sunniest weather in western and northern districts. In parts of the
North Island rainfall had been inadequate since September. In
most areas there was very little pasture growth, and in some places
supplementary feed was being supplied to cows and sheep. Dairy
production was already seriously affected.

Rainfall--Rainfall was below normal except in a 30-mile wide
strip near the coast from Tokomaru Bay to Wairoa and also near the
coast from Dunedin to Balclutha. The deficiency was greatest in
northern and western districts of both Islands. The whole area from
Auckland through Waikato to Waitomo and Rotorua-Taupo
received less than a quarter of the normal rainfall, as did a considerable part of the Alps and the Canterbury high country, and
parts of Nelson and Marlborough. The average percentage of the
1941-70 normal was 35 percent in the North Island and 55 percent
in the South Island.

Temperatures--Temperatures were up to 1°C above normal in
western districts, and in northern districts of the North Island.
Elsewhere they were about the same amount below normal.

Sunshine--Western and most northern districts were favoured
with 30-70 hours above normal sunshine. In the east sunshine
showed considerable variations. North Otago and South Canterbury received up to 60 hours above normal, but Gisborne and
Northern Hawke's Bay had a deficiency of 40 hours.

Weather Sequence--During the first three days of January two
troughs of low pressure moved eastward over the country, the
second associated with a small depression just south of Stewart
Island. Scattered rain was reported, especially on the West Coast,
the southern and eastern coasts of the South Island, the Wellington-
Manawatu area, and the centre of the North Island. Temperatures
became cool in the southerly winds behind the second trough. On
the following day the weather was fine but still rather cold during
the passage of an anticyclone north-eastward over New Zealand.
Another weak trough brought rain to the West Coast during the
5th and 6th with scattered light falls elsewhere, while temperatures
still remained rather cool. During the following two days yet
another trough associated with a depression passing near Campbell
Island affected western districts as far north as New Plymouth and
also Southland and South Otago, and parts of the Canterbury
Plains, with rain, mainly light.

From the 9th to the 14th an anticyclone over the South Tasman
Sea advanced on to New Zealand and became stationary there,
while pressures remained low near Raoul Island. The weather was
mainly fine but cool except in Gisborne and Hawke's Bay, where it
was unsettled with rain at times. Gisborne recorded considerable
rain on the 12th with the passage of a depression to the north-east.
Other eastern districts of the North Island besides Bay of Plenty,
Coromandel, and eastern Northland had showery conditions on
some days during this period.

From the 15th to the 17th another weak trough crossed New
Zealand with an anticyclone behind it. Some rain was reported
over the greater part of the South Island and also in eastern districts of the North Island. Temperatures were still cool. Yet another