Last Month's Weather Was Favourable To Farmers And Stock

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 77, 2 August 1950, Page 5

Last Month's Weather Was Favourable To Farmers And Stock

After the exceptionally mild conditions of the preceding month, June’s weather, by contrast, appeared to be rather unpleasant, states the N.Z. Meteorological Service. Although there was little settled weather, the conditions were slightly above average. An unusual feature of the weather situation was the passage over the New'\ Zealand area of the series of six wave depressions each of which had its origin near the coast of Queensland. A long spell of showery south-west-erly weather made conditions very unpleasant in Southland until the final week.

On the whole it was a favourable month for farmers and stock is reported to be in good condition. North Island rainfall exceteded the average, except in the region about and west of the Tararua Range and about the central portion of the Auckland Peninsula. Lowest rainfalls occurred in Centrai Otago where several stations had monthly totals of under half an inch, the equivalent of about a third of the average amount.

Except in parts of Canterbury, mean temperatures were above normal. The anomalies were generally small but in central and northern districts of the North Island they exceeded 2 degrees farenheit. There was a deficiency of over 20 hours in the month’s sunshine over the Auckland Province and along the Kaikoura coast. Most of Canterbury had an excess of 20-30 hours, but over the remainder of the country the sunshine was near average.

With a trough of low pressure lying across the North Island, the weather remained very unsettled.