12 APRIL
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE
1619

CLIMATOLOGICAL TABLE—Summary of the Records of Temperature, Rainfall, and Sunshine for February 1985—continued

The “normal” refers to the present site of the instruments. Standard period for normals is 1951–1980. 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 rainday 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.

THE WEATHER IN NEW ZEALAND IN FEBRUARY 1985

General—February was generally a sunny month with dry conditions in many areas.

Over the North Island north-easterly winds were more frequent than usual, with winds from this quarter being the highest for February since 1974. Over the South Island south-westerlies were a little more frequent than normal.

Pressures were higher than normal over the country.

Many farmers in the north of New Zealand reported good grass growth and stock condition. Over the rest of the country there was little grass growth and several farmers reported drought conditions. Crop harvesting in the South Island was completed early due to sunny conditions.

Serious flooding to the Thames Valley, South Auckland regions occurred overnight on the 16th and 17th. The Thames Valley disaster has been estimated to cost about $7 million.

Rainfall—Apart from a wet spell between the 15th and 17th of the month over northern districts, and a heavy thunderstorm on the 18th near Christchurch, rainfall over the entire country was below average. In east coast districts of both islands and in Fiordland and South Westland, rainfall was mostly less than 60 percent of normal for February. The dry conditions in the Wairarapa and Gisborne areas caused farmers to sell stock earlier than normal.

A band of heavy rain affected Northland during the 15th with localised surface flooding. Vetsique recorded 175 mm on the 15th. Other Northland stations to measure high totals include: Opononi (104 mm), Kawakawa (159 mm) and Matauri Bay (110 mm).

Very heavy rain overnight on the 16th and 17th resulted in widespread flooding in the Thames Valley region from Te Aroha to Waiomu, and also in the South Auckland region from Manurewa to Pukekohe. Three people died when their home was destroyed by flood waters in Te Aroha, and another in Waiomu. A group of 100 boys were trapped for 36 hours by flood waters at a camp in the Hunua Ranges.

Much of the very heavy rainfall, responsible for the flooding, fell between the hours of 8 p.m. on the 16th and 5 a.m. on the 17th. At Coromandel 331 mm fell in the 24-hour period beginning at 9 a.m. on the 16th, but for an 8-hour period beginning at 8 p.m. 266 mm was recorded. Other stations to record high rainfall totals include: Karangahake (249 mm), Puriri (251 mm) Te Puru (212 mm), Elstow (218 mm), Mount Te Aroha (250 mm), Coromandel Forest Park (350 mm estimated), Chiltern (277 mm), Mangatawhiri (230 mm), Auckland Airport (162 mm), Gleniffer (165 mm), and Pukekohe (167 mm).

Temperature—Over the northern half of the North Island and the north and west of the South Island temperatures were a little lower than normal. The remainder of the country experienced above average temperatures.

Maximum temperatures were close to normal over much of New Zealand except in the east of the South Island where they were more than one degree higher. Minimum temperatures were also close to normal or slightly lower.

Sunshine—Sunshine totals over Northland and Auckland were just below average this month, but over the rest of New Zealand it was sunnier than usual.

The east coast of the South Island was particularly sunny, with Christchurch Airport recording 50 hours more sunshine than normal, and Kaikoura, 53 hours. Timaru’s total of 21 hours was the highest February total since 1968, and the fourth highest since measurements began in 1930.

Other locations recording greatest departures this month include: Wellington (40 hours), Nelson (30 hours), Blenheim (27 hours), Hokitika (24 hours) and Gisborne (22 hours).

J. S. HICKMAN, Director.