COLD AND WET.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 160, 6 June 1940, Page 2

COLD AND WET.

WEATHER IN MAY. •' WELLINGTON, June 6. Temperatures in May,. as in tlie months immediately preceding, were very cold, the skies were dull, and rain fell frequently in most parts of the country, states the Director of Meteorological Services (Dr. M. A. F. 'Barnett). There was a fortunate lack of continued strong winds. Though several gales were experienced they did not persist for any considerable time. “The ground is now well soaked and, while some pasture growth has been maintained in the north, it has almost ceased in-the south, Widespread frosts at the close of tlie month will have checked the growth still further. Animals are in a healthy condition, but some stock were ' lost in the Otago floods,” the report states. In spite 'of the large number of rain days, the total falls were somewhat below normal in several regions —the Waikato, King Country, North Taranaki, and Poverty Bay. as well as in the Nelson and Westland Provinces. Rainfall was iii excess in most other districts, the percentage excesses being greatest in Canterbury and Otago, “where many stations had more than double tlie normal amount, chiefly as the result of the continuous rains from May 4 to May 8, when many floods occurred.

The milder spells were brief and the colder more prolonged. Mean temperatures‘from Canterbury northward were about 2 degrees below normal, while southward the departures were smaller. There were numerous frosts, and on several occasions considerable amounts of snow fell on the ranges. Some stations, such as Auckland and Napier, had sunshine values noticeably above the average, but most places had less sjinshine than is usual in May. The southern half of the South Island suffered most in this respect. RIVER GAUGE. Noon. —3ft. 9in.