The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1868. THE WEATHER.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 28, 4 February 1868, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1868. THE WEATHER.

This city, since Sunday evening last, has been visited by a succession of tempestuous weather which is almost without precedent. Shortly after sunset on Sunday evening the rain came down in torrents, and has continued to descend with scarcely any intermission — the barometer falling within 24 hours froraSO.lo deg. to 20.60 deg. — up to the hour at wliich we are writing. During the following night the wind blew with great violence and much mischief was done to various buildings and premises in the city and neighborhood. The gable end of Mr Campbell's mill which had originally been substantially built of brick, was blown in, and the frame of a house in process of erection by Mr. J. Graham, near Van Diemen Street, •was levelled with the grouud. The large foooth erected in the Botanical Gardens, for the Foresters' Fete, shared a like fate, and an incalculable amount of damage was done to the gardens by ' the fall of trees, &c The severity of the storm abated somewhat in the afternoon, but about half-past 3 o'clock this morning, the inhabitauts of the city and its vicinity were aroused from their slumbers by a renewal of the storm, -accompanied by very vivid flashes of lightning aud loud thunder-claps. These continued with more or less frequency, together with strong and sudden gusts of wind, until half-past 9 o'clock, when the rain fell with immense violence, together with hail, or rather large pieces of ice, many of which measured from an inch to an inch and a half in length, whilst others resembled marbles. At the conclusion of the storm 'a waterspout, which is stated to be the first ever seen in Nelson, was observed slowly drifting along the Boulderbank, resembling nothing so much as a windsail, and drawing up large stones in its progress to a height of 100 feet. It then directed its •course towards the shore, and it is stated that .its connection with the sea was •broken by coming in contact with the Fifeshire Rock. Be this as it may, after feachmg the shore, it seemed to pass between Colonel Richmond's and Mr. Baly's grounds at the Port, and soon afterwards vanished into thin air. The spectacle, whilst the waterspout was passing along the Boulderbank, is described as being grand in the extreme. The sky then cleared for a short time, but only to be again obscured, and the rain is now falling as heavily as ever, the monotonous downpour being only broken at intervals by the sullen rumbling of thunder at a distance. Although large advantage has been taken of the fine weather which has prevailed during the past three weeks for the gathering in of the crops, still it is to be feared that all are not secured, and that the present tempestuous weather may thereby cause considerable loss in the outlying districts. The injury to the fruit crops and to gardens generally done by the heavy rain and hail must be very great, and as there seems to be no indication at present of any cessation, it is impossible that the loss sustained can yet he ascertained.