28 MARCH

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

577

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE-Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for February 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 FEBRUARY 1974

General-There was an unusually high frequency of north-easterlies in February. It was a very warm month, especially in the north, besides being very cloudy in Canterbury and Otago. The dry weather of January continued into the first half of February, with drought conditions developing in some areas. Good rains in the second half brought some relief to most districts but they were inadequate in parts of the North Island, where drought persisted in places. In the south it was a good month for growth but rather poor for harvesting and haymaking.

Rainfall-Rainfall was above normal over nearly the whole of the South Island, also around the Bay of Islands and in most of Bay of Plenty. These two areas received heavy rain from the 22nd to the 24th, causing some flooding. Kaikohe's rainfall for the 22nd was 125 mm and for the 23rd 114 mm. Over the greater part of the North Island rainfall was below normal by 30-70 percent.

Temperatures-Temperatures were above normal by 2 to 4 degrees C in the North Island and by 1 to 2 degrees in the South Island. Over the northern half of the North Island west of the main ranges it was the warmest of any month in up to a century of observations. In this area the previous warmest month was generally February 1955.

Sunshine-In the South Island sunshine was below normal by 20-80 hours, with the greatest deficiencies in Canterbury and Otago. The totals of 112 hours at Christchurch, 104 hours at Ashburton, and 96 hours at Dunedin were all record low values for February. In the North Island sunshine was mainly close to normal.

Weather Sequence-During the first two days of February an anticyclone moved eastward across the country with settled weather. From the 3rd to the 5th a shallow depression crossed the South Island while the associated trough of low pressure moved over the country. The weather was warm with light to moderate rain, fairly general about as far north as Hamilton. On the 6th the weather was fine again during the passage of a small anticyclone across the South Island.

From the 7th to the 9th a depression over the Tasman Sea which had originated as a tropical cyclone crossed the South Island. Rain was reported mainly on the West Coast and in Otago and Southland. During the next three days an anticyclone moved eastward over the South Island. The weather was mainly fine apart from some rain in Hawke's Bay on the 11th.

From the 13th to the 18th a trough of low pressure moved slowly north-eastward over the country accompanied by considerable welcome rain in most districts south of Hamilton. There was also a change from warm to cooler temperatures on the 15th and 16th. On the 19th the weather was mainly fine under the influence of a ridge of high pressure.

From the 20th to the 22nd a depression was almost stationary over the Tasman Sea while an associated warm front moved southward over the South Island. Rain affected especially Canterbury and Westland with scattered light falls elsewhere. During the next two days the main trough of low pressure associated with the depression moved eastward across the North Island, with considerable rain there and scattered falls still in the south.

On the 25th and 26th an anticyclone over the South Tasman Sea moved on to the country and the weather was mainly fine. However, during the last two days of the month pressures were low to the east and a cold front crossed New Zealand bringing rain to most of the South Island besides Wellington, Wairarapa and Manawatu.

J. F. de LISLE, Director.

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