HEAVY RAIN IN WELLINGTON

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 45, 16 November 1940, Page 8

HEAVY RAIN IN WELLINGTON

Violent Thunderstorm

HALF INCH FALLS IN

15 MINUTES

After a sunny morning and a "arm afternoon, a thunderstorm of consider-

able violence broke over Wellington

about 6.20 p.m. 'rhe thunderclaps were louil and prolonged, and soon heavy rain came pelting down. In all the higher levels it was accompanied by hail.

In a little more than half an hour 53 points had fallen. At the height of the downpour, the gutters in sojne streets were not able to accommodate the water, which flowed on to the roadway. Torrents of water raced down from the higher levels. Pedestrians raced foj’ cover, and many of those without'overcoats received a soaking before they could gain the shelter of shops or doorways. Though the fall was heavy—so points were registered in a quarter of an hour—it was by no means the most intense Wellington has experienced. On March 17. 1935, a fall of 27 points was recorded at Kelburn in two minutes, followed on the same day by 56 points in ten minutes. 'At the height of a storm in Wellington on December 7, 1939, the fall was 21 points in live minutes; on that occasion 1.15 inches fell in 4 hours 40 minutes. These are the heaviest known figures for intensity of rain, but records of this nature go back only to 1930.

Thunderstorms usually clear the air, and an official of the Meteorological Office said last night that it was expected that this afternoon would be line, though the morning might be showery.