December Weather

Chronicle (Levin), 13 January 1949, Page 2

December Weather

The beginiuiig "of December wias cliangeable and railier .cool, huti a h;ot dry spell prevailed over the Christmas period, states the Dominion MeteCrological Office. . On the tvhole, the month was sunnier andidrier than usual. Shearlmr nnrl lm.viii ii kirifr have suffered little

interruption, except in Southland. Orops have done reasonably well in spite oi very dry weather in eastern districts. Stock has reniained in good condition. Rainfall': Over the gre'ater part of the conntry rainfall was well below the average. Lowest totals -were east of the ranges from Canterbury to Hawke's Bav, and in the Nelson and Wanganui distriets. Rainfall was in excess in Southland, Fjordland and about the Alps, niainly as a result of heavy rains froin the 12th to the^lfth^ Milford Sound having 11.47' InClies"d'n , the 12th. There was a slight surplus in the far north, and along the coast from New Plymouth to Manakau Harbour. Temperatures: Mean t'emperatures wero mostly • one to two degrecs above normal, but in Taranaki and the West Coast they were about a degree below normal. Two cold spells at the beginning and in the middle of t'he. month, were more than offset by the warm spell over the Christmas period. The maximum temperature of S4:3 degrees in Wellington on tho 28th was the highest of any December since records commenced in 1802. . : ' Sunshine: The duration. of sunshine was very higlv in Canterbury, Marlborough and eastern distriets of the North Island. Blenheim and Gisborne had a surplus equivalent to over two liours a day. New. Plymouth and Auckland, on the other haiid, had substantial deliciencies. Elsewhere^ departures from normal were not large, and were mainly positive.