26 MARCH
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for February 1975—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 recorded 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 1975

General—February was warm and cloudy, and also rather dry over the North Island. Welcome rain eased the dry conditions in Southland. Elsewhere the weather was predominantly favourable for farming, with good growth. However, conditions were too dry in parts of the North Island; while in parts of Canterbury and Otago the wet conditions with lack of sun proved unfavourable for harvesting. Facial eczema in sheep was reported in some northern districts of the North Island.

From the 5th to the 7th many districts were buffeted by winds often well beyond gale force, mainly from the south-west. Some of the areas worst affected were Auckland, Coromandel, North Taranaki, Marlborough, and parts of Otago and Southland.

Rainfall—Rainfall was below normal over nearly all of the North Island; over the greater part it was less than half the normal value. It was also somewhat below normal in most of Marlborough and parts of Nelson. Elsewhere in the South Island it was mainly above normal, by 50 percent.

Some very heavy rain was recorded in parts of the South Island on the 22nd and 23rd, under the influence of a stationary front. On the 22nd Moanaroa, about halfway between Timaru and Waimate, received 136 mm, of which 119 mm fell in 16 hours. Severe local flooding and erosion were reported. On the 23rd Franz Josef received 250 mm and Fox Glacier 211 mm causing a bridge to be washed out in that area.

Temperatures—Temperatures were above normal, mainly by 1–2°C. Highest departures, exceeding 2°C, were recorded in Taranaki and Taihape. Considerable fluctuations occurred in eastern districts. The 13th was a particularly warm day, especially in Otago and Southland; and the 28th was very cold in Canterbury, Otago and Southland.

Sunshine—Sunshine was below normal over northern districts of the North Island and over the greater part of the South Island mainly by 20–50 hours. Unusually low totals included 134 hours at Kaitaia, 130 hours at Dunedin, and 126 hours at Balclutha.

Weather Sequence—On the first 2 days of February a belt of high pressure extended eastward from Tasmania past New Zealand to the Chatham Islands. The weather was fine and became warm. On the following day a trough of low pressure brought rain to the West Coast, Southland and parts of Otago and Canterbury. On the 4th a deep depression passed to the south and the associated trough of low pressure brought rain mainly to the West Coast and Southland.

On the 5th the depression previously to the south of the South Island was centred near the Chatham Islands, while another deep depression originating from a tropical storm was centred to the north-east of Auckland. South-westerlies set in and continued over the next 2 days, reaching gale force and above in many areas. Light rain affected most districts at first but persisted in only a few areas. An anticyclone which had been over the Tasman Sea moved across the North Island on the 8th and 9th with generally fine but cool weather.

On the 10th a deep depression passed far to the south and the associated trough of low pressure affected the south-west of the South Island, with heavy rain in Fiordland and parts of South Westland, and some rain also in the Southern Lakes district. Temperatures became warm in the east. On the following day rain spread to Otago. By the 12th pressures were high in the Campbell Island area but very low to the south of Tasmania and also to the north of Northland. During the next 2 days a trough of low pressure moved rather slowly over the country, bringing rain to most western and northern districts of both Islands.