WET WEATHER.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 730, 1 February 1910, Page 6

WET WEATHER.

IS IT THE COMET? ■ f Three days' splid rainat the end;,of January! Such a happening in the-driest part of .pur summer is "somewhat disooncerting if welcome to a section. ot ■ the community. A recent cable message says that in : France, they are attributing the heavy rainfall to the influence of Halley's .comet.'- Can it be that the audacious tail of that nebulous quantity .has any. connection with the floods in mid-summer in drought , country, such. as., that around WaJgett town, in New-South Wales, and the exceedingly heavy rain here? For several years past Wellington has .been burnt biscuit-brown-by the heat of Janu.ar/s sun,. yet here and now umbrellas and goloshes, fires, and. hot toast are in steady -requisition to ward off. the effects of a seasonal freak. , •■..-;'

' Eain commenced.to fall at a late hour on; Friday night, and has continued without intermission ever since. ■' ■.., ■ '.•■':. •

; INTERFERENCE' WITH SEEPING.: .Yesterday's rain again" interfered with shipping-at. the- port;, and all of the small, coastal. steamers remained in port last night; having , been unable to handle cargo.- The Shaw-Savill steamer Mamari was. unable to discharge /her explosives ' h< =.s'reaia, and :will • probably ■' not berth till, this afternoon, and the Swanley, Waiwera, and Star of New Zealand had to" remain idle .'practically the whole day. The Wakanui, which left Auckland on .Friday, had , not arrived last night, and, as the Star, of New Zealand and the Terawhiti saw nothing of her she is probably: standing out to'. sea till the weather clears. Last night the rain showed signs of slackening, but the wind was increasing, and ;a big sea was runm ' n ? i ? trait - The Terawhiti re . ported that the weather was' still ; thick '■ ontside,. making it difficult •'to pick up the -. entrance. . ;This - would account for the non-appearance : of the Maitai, from l-Uunedin, which should have arrived in w nal #i, '"to 36 - early veven-' ing. , J?he_Wairuna. was. due yesterday Westport, but was probabjy sheltering on the other side of the btrait, and so (probably) was the Ken'"li.jW put in for shelter at Pioton, and left there again at.2 pan. for Wellington. -.-. ■ All the steamers mentioned should- reaoh' port this; morning, and there will be a,big exodus from the wnarvee as soon' as the . vessels in port can get their cargoes' aboard. ' .

UNFAVORABLE FOE HAETEST. ; (By Tekßraph.--Presß ■ABsociation.) . ■ ; V '. Christchurch, January -31: , The promise of a satisfactory. harvest in North Canterbury is daily becomins less Ukely of .fulfilment, owing to '-the unfavourable weather. Light drizzling showers on 1 Friday culminated at night in a steady downpour from the southwest, with . a low- temperature. ■ On Saturday the weather was. showery, but during the night the rain held off, 1 and there' were indications of a clearance. On Sunday morning, however; heavy rain again set in from the east, and continued,, all day. The downpour at times was almost tropical. The weather became much warmer,'a condition that gave farmers cause to be apprehensive of sprouting grain. At present there is a very large area,of grain in the stook, and extensive damage, from : discolouration and sprouting is bound to occur. It is still raining to-day. ■. ' ■ : ".

. . ' ' Later.. For the past fortnight the weather has been very unsettled, and, on Friday afternoon, the rain which hid for some time previously been intermittent commenced 'to descend'in a steady downpour, and has' continued over since. Unless' it. quickly abates, it is probable that serious damage will , be done in the country districts. The local observatory reports that, from about 2.30 p.m. on Friday up to 2.30 p.m. to-day, 2.219 inches of rain had fallen^

■•';."•■ Nelson, January 31. Heavy rain has fallen steadily for twenty-four hours. It will do good, but a cohiiEuapce will cause floods. .