PLAINS RAINFALL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4838, 5 June 1925, Page 4

PLAINS RAINFALL.

A WET MONTH. The gauge at the Lands Department's office at. Kerepeelii recorded that rain fell on 19 days during the month of May, including every day from tlie 12th to the 25th, inclusive. The total for the month was 4'.80 inches, bringing tlie total for the year to date to 11.20 inches. The heaviest fall was on the 13th, when 1-07 inches were recorded, while for the continuously wet fortnight in the middle of the month, when so many floods were caused in other parts of the country, the total was 3.5 inches. Except for the year 1924, when 8.55 inches of rain fell during May, causing the big floods, the total for last month is the highest on record tor the same period since recording was commenced at Kerepeelii. The May average for the last 12 years is 3.86 inches.

The weather during May was similar to that during the greater part, of the previous two years, when continuous light rain fell. The great difference, however, was the summer. Tnis year the long spell of hot weather caused the ground to crack extensively and deeply, forming underground drains which carried the water away quickly. Except where the ground has been much trampled by stock, as in gateways, etc., there is practically no water lying about.

The favourable summer season permitted all the drains being cleaned, and now few of them contain little more than tide water.

The roads have suffered by the wet weather, and though few of them have of them have yet become impassable, their state demands consideration when planning a journey.