A WETTER ONE!

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18479, 5 September 1925, Page 15

A WETTER ONE!

AUGUST, 1886. ELEVEN INCHES IN TWENTYTHREE DAYS. Although the rainfall during tho past month constitutes a record during the period that meteorological obseirvations have been maio at tho Magnetic Observatory, it is by no means the wettest August experienced in Christchurch. In fact, last_ month's record of 5.969 inches sinks into comparative insignificance alongside the record of August, 1886, which was 11 inches! Whether there haa been a wetter August between 1886 and 1902 has not been determined; but it seems highly improbable. In August, 1886,' rain fell on 23 days. There are still many who remember the flooded state of the City, especially on August 18th, 1886, when at 2 p.m. the Avon wsb 15 inches above its normal level, having risfcn six inches between 1J a.m. hour in tho day it was estimated to be 3ft higher than normal. Along Cambridge terrace West the footpath was flooded ho Ibadlv as to bo impassable, and the river encroached on to the road on the other side. The residence of Mr S. David, near the Barbadoes street bridge, was flooded with water from thu river, and the occupants were compelled to seek drier qua-ters. of the gardens on the south si !o of Chester street, between Barbadoes street and .Mr Godfrey's store, were flooded to a depth of 21t, and as thero was no drainago it was considered probable that the services of the steam lire engine would bb requirea to pump tho sections dry. At Pigeon Bay the homestead of Mr T. 0. Hay was destroyed by a tremendous landslide, the occupants, fortunately, escaping unhurt. According to a statement published at the time, meteorological observations were first taken in Christcliurch in 1864, and it is possible that there may liavo been an unrecorded earlier wetter August. But between 1864 and 18S6 the rainfall in August had never reached inches. In August, 1864, it was 4.183"i; in August, 1870, it was 4.436 in; m August, 188 a, it was 4.190 in. A noteworthy fact in respect of tho wet August of 1886 was that tho preceding mont*i —July—was the driest recorded since 1864; in July,'lßß6, the >rainfall was 0.23 in ;in the .same month in 1564, it was 0.755 in.