A REMARKABLE STORM

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1721, 28 November 1887, Page 2

A REMARKABLE STORM

F-otn i'h Mtl oorne o ur'SDnndent's t r ro h ■• OanecUo Lrening Star," nt d 15 h K."t, w> oiip the fo lowing :— v>i "Xtra-'rdioary t ewy dovT..p ar of rain, hoc •tnpame 1 hy a h*iUßtnrm of anustial 5,..v«.ity, occitr-'d at Williamstowo, Newp ri, and Sp utiawoorta on Thursday Uat, The rain* l"^ra ly poured duwn, and, Btrunuo to stiy, scarcely a drop fell at either Foottoray or Melbourne. At eleven, o'olook preliminary drops, accompanied by % little hall, drova people out of doors under ehelter. Then there followed vivid fl isheß of Hghtnhm and crashes of thundet that Hounded overhead like the crack of heavy artillery. Suddenly the rain descended la a perfect torrent, falling, ea it seemed faster and faster, and overflowing tha channels m an incredibly short apace of time. For the apace of one hour it rained incessantly, and came down In abaets. The lightning continued to flash, followed by deavy thunder, as the atertn o'oud gradually spent itself. Hailstones also descended b<> thickly that m less than five minirea the surface of the greund beoatna qtrte white, whilst the wind banked tli m m large heaps against the houses and fecc? s. In the business pentre of WilHatnstowu, notwithstanding {he heavy fall there ia to the bay, the gutters proved altogether incapable of coping wfth the sudden and extreme good of water, nod consequently the roadways became submerged. During the downpour It It estimated that fully three Inches of rain must have fallen.