WINTRY BLAST

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 163, 28 July 1937, Page 4

WINTRY BLAST

Then Change of Wind Raises Temperature H.B. WEATHER VAGARIES Hastings and a fairly wide area of the surrounding countryside experienced another wintry blast late yesterday -afternoon. The fact that for the first time this year there was snow visible on the Kahuranaki indicates the inteusity of the cold break in. the weather. That' the fall was no light one is revealed by the fact that the white mantle was still visible this morning, though the temperature had risen very appreciably and the wind had changed direction. Snow on the Kahuranaki is no uncommon sight, but yesterday 's fall was much earlier than usual. Repdrts from the various distticts indicate that the snow Was well down on the surrounding hills from the ranges to the coast. The Takapau hills .were covered to the depth of almost a foot, and there were heavy falls in the Ruahines. Even the Ngamoko Settlement foothills had snow upon them. Though the weather was bleak in the afternoon, the night in Hastings was cold but the sky was clear. Between seven an'd eight degrees of frost were recorded at Cornwall Park. The thermometer dropped to below 22 degretes. , Just before daybreak there was a sudden change in the weather, a westerly wind springing up. In consequence, the temperature rose rapidly, and as a result light sleepers were disturbed by considerable crackling on the xoof tops as the ice and frost thawed. Some confused this noise with that of a minor earthquake, though, curiously 'enough, shortly after midnight there was a very small earthquake tremor recorded in Hastings. As indieating the sudden rise in temperature caused in the change in the wind from south to west, the thermometer- used by the Government meterological observer, Mr H. Nelson Fowler, at Cornwall Park, jumped up 25 degrees when reset at nine o'clock this morning.