11 DECEMBER

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for October 1975—continued

LATE RETURNS AND CORRECTIONS—continued

The “normal” refers to the present site of the instruments. Standard period for normals is 1941–70.
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 OCTOBER 1975

General—October was marked by an unusually high frequency of easterly winds over the northern half of the North Island, bringing considerable cloud and rain to these areas. It was a good month for dairy production, and most farmers in the North Island found it a favourable month for growth.

Rainfall—Rainfall was above normal over most of the North Island from Ruapehu northward, and over northern and eastern districts of the South Island as far south as Waimate. It was more than double the normal value in most of eastern Northland, in Coromandel, over inland Bay of Plenty, and also on the North Canterbury coast. In eastern Northland and Coromandel two-thirds of the rain fell from the 8th to the 13th. At Hikurangi, north of Whangarei, 256 mm was recorded in the 3 days from the 9th to the 11th. Flooding was reported in both areas, with easterly gales.
Rainfall less than three-quarters of the normal value was reported in only a few districts, mainly in the southern half of the North Island.

Temperatures—Temperatures were above normal by about 1°C over nearly the whole of the North Island, with highest departures in Waikato-King Country. They were below normal by about ½°C in Southland and South Otago and in the Mackenzie Basin. Wide variations in temperature occurred, especially in Canterbury and Otago. Two of the coldest days were the 19th and the 27th, with maxima at Christchurch of only 9°C. On the 19th a fall of snow was reported on the upper Canterbury Plains around Methven.

Sunshine—Sunshine was below normal in most northern and eastern districts of the North Island by 20–70 hours. Kaitaia received only 134 hours, the lowest on record for October, while Gisborne received only 142 hours. In most western districts from New Plymouth to Wellington and also over the greater part of Canterbury, sunshine was above normal by 25–60 hours. Paraparaumu received the unusually high total of 237 hours.

Weather Sequence—At the beginning of October an anticyclone was passing to the south of the country, while a depression to the east of the North Island was moving away. Some light showers were reported in Gisborne, Otago, and Southland. On the following day the anticyclone was centred east of the South Island while a complex depression covered the northern and central Tasman Sea. Showers were reported in a number of areas, especially in the South Island. On the 3rd and 4th one depression was situated west of the North Island while the other centre moved away to the south. Rain was fairly general, with some heavy falls on the Kaikoura coast. Temperatures were rather cold, as they had been since the beginning of the month. During the following 2 days the depression to the west of the North Island moved northward and was centred near North Cape. Rain was restricted mainly to some northern and eastern districts of the North Island and temperatures remained cold in the east. On the 7th an anticyclone covered the country with centres to west and east, and the weather was mainly fair and somewhat warm.