The Weather Problemn

Feilding Star, Volume XI, Issue 125, 15 April 1890, Page 4

The Weather Problemn

TO THE EDITOR OF THE’sTAR; * / ‘Sir,— -The past hot dry season, lasting well ‘into ’the autumnal' months', has been, with the exception of a'few. Very cold, nights, more, like an Australian ; sumpier than New Zealand? weather usually; prevalent at that time of the year. Much the same sort ,of. weather/ but with' a i greater intensity of heat, l hhs T been bxperiehced in’ Victoria,. while'in Norihem Australia,, including New* South Wales a. sue--•cession of heavy rains, producing disastrous floods, (a rather unusual occurrence in ; that laud Of' 'drought), hkve been; experienced. -‘Hotf the :

dtorfe-going unusual occurrences are to - be : explained,-, has. been put in-, the/ • ’form of .a question ; part of the press'of -this .colony, and it has ; b®£fe •udhgested that /Captain should. heVeqiifested to give’ hisi opinion uppp •the_subject. Now it is iny opinion, haying studied weather problem's: for; a . number of. years, that in the firit place, Northern Australia having Experienced, seypye droughts for some y4hts' pretl'dubly the 'Jatmosphere of that region nad' become what may be' . ’Gajipd i foul,, and thereby • producing.? more than its, share of , electric fluid., -and./otfierwisp producing .a state of ( favourable ,to.-rainfall, ; This has not only caused an unusual < qi|hnticy ! r sf-rain/tO - fall, in! the affected; region' [ but,; probably/has • attracted moisturO jjfr.om a considerable sur- ? In connection with! ■this anyone taking note of the direc-'. ><ipn i>f in,rainy quarters -will, 3iivS fdiinte£that kiuf prevailing wiid! Jis from‘the 'tfest nr north-west, also x •th&t^offi® l U%bt to north, and from -thence to east,.are the : rainy quarters, 1 mpstof the ..long , continued rains «coming from the north west or between that point and north east, or from the! direction of the equator; 'while the clearing up of fine weather : ;apd,although .there may be some-1 'times flying .showers, comes from the i ipoinits.: southeast to south-west or j J-froin a polar direction., I.put down the i -cause of the late dry and sultry , season I to the prevalence of! -soutfij "easterly winds, veering round; to south and* south- west, and . ■tihereffect of the wind especially when ! “dub sduth, is to puiify the atmosphere f and favour dryness, and thereby 'counteract the effects of -and of the. impure atmosphere generated by.the «heat ofrthb sun >in the tropics. x I have observed that when thej wind blows froni.a direction due; •sohtfifor 12 Hours or more, although ■extremplvj cold directly afterwards/ and mostly always followed by frost, .incapably .a > long spell of .fine, weather follows. The south wind, -however, seldom lasts* ,even for 12 'hours, but veers round to either west or j ; the, atmosphere may thus Se only partially purified. While -I am touching upon thia purifying tendency of‘the south wind, I may mention that the , same purifying qualityj is ■ attributed to .-the effect of ■ the norih wind in the northern hemis-; phere. As to the recent great solar heat it mayr have been: observed that .-in. the case* of cyclones and other 'rain, and' producing a low temperature, that in the immediate vicinity of those storms the sun has great power caused, in a two fold . way, firstly by air of high temperature being/, driven/ or expelled by rain ■fitorinS'; “hhd ;sbcondly from a concentration 6f solar heat,' outside of the storm or rainy area, and this may* been the cause of €He long . continuance of great J heat experienced * very ‘ : recehfly ‘in New'. Zealand and -South Australia. In New Zealand, ■we are still outside of the rainy area,. 1 the north;westly equinoctial / gales,, clddling effect, are matter am this 'season and have not had sufficient power to force down Portion ,of the superfluous , moisture 'from, the aforementioned quarter, while the moderate showers we have had may be put down to the . effect of local heat. .By late accounts the? unprecedented' 'heavy - rains* still •‘COimAue*. In /Northern -much. Tain tailing! since; Ist January ■ lastas jhe amount of. therusudl aver- ? age rajnfall exteuding over a period .1 of h.qr fiye/us;— lam &c.. p .; , -.= < , .i A Colonist. ,