WET DECEMBER.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 329, 9 January 1937, Page 7

WET DECEMBER.

HIGH RAINFALL. Dominion Meterologist Makes Report. General. During the first half of Dacemlber the wither was, for the -most part, fair to fine over the Dominion with little rain, and in most of the North Island these conditions continued throughout the third week. Ov r the North Island during this period dry westerly or south-westerly winds pre- ' dominated. Southland and parts of I Otago also experienced, on the whole, : dry and sunny weather. In the remainder of the South Island, however, it. was more cloudy and humid. Th© last week to 10 days was everywhere very 7 wet. In the first part of the month much hay was gathered, particularly in the North Island, and shearing was well advanced. Towards the latter end both shear ng and work on the land were held up, and in the North some cut hay was lost. Th, re is abundance of pasture everywhere, in many places, indeed, a superfluity. Stock are reported to be in very good condition, but the food is rather soft and in some places lambs are not fattening well. The milk yield has been well maintain d. Wheat crops, till the end of the month, were in good condition, but fruit crops generally only fair. Un--1 ss dry weather sets in soon some adverse effects may be expected from the heavy rain at the end of the month. In many respects the season, so far as vegetation is concerned, is a late one. Rainfall. Tn spite of the fact that the weather was fine during the greater pan of the month, the total rainfa 1 was- much above normal ovjt the North Island. Many p. in (i st ..rn and northern districts had more than double the average. In the South Island, conditions were variable and departures from normal not

usually very large. The west coa t j and the high country generally bad 1 Iqss, while most of the areas w th i law average falls had slightly more .han normal. Temperatures. Temperatures were almost everywhere below normal though the departures were not, in general, large. In the interior they amounted in most cases to between two and three. , degrees. Christchurch with a mean 3.G degrees F. b,elow normal had a very cold month. Hastings bad a warm one, apparently owing to westerly Folnn winds during the first three weeks. Tauranga and Timaru, also, were slightly above the average. Sunshine. Sunshine was above normal in North Auckland, Tauranga having 253.9 hours, and also in Southland where Invercargill had 202.8 hours. From North Canterbury to South Auckland it was much lower. There were many overcast days and mist and fog were unusually prevalent, especially in eastern districts. Pressure Systems.

At the beginning of the month a depression was passing away eastwards and the weather b -came fine as an anti-cyclone moved on to the Dominion. From the sth to 7 th, several rather shallow westerly depressions crossed the South Island,

causing a certain amount of rain, but eastern districts and the North Island were very little affected. From the Sth to !sth, there was little storm activity, anti-cyclonic conditions prevailing for most of the time over New Zealand. On the 16th, a deeper depression appeared west of the South Island and after it had passed eastward was followed on the 17th and 18th by cold southerly gaies. Fairly general rain was produced by this storm, but over most of the North Island it was only light. The first very general rain occurred on the 22nd, when the centre of a depression crossed the southern portion of the South Island. Following It, a trough of low pressur. moved northwards over the Dominion, strong westerly winds prevailing to the north of it and south-westerlies to the south. The weather remained unsettled until the 24th. There were heavy falls on the 22nd from the Wellington province southwards, while in the far south the 21st was also very wet. Slight flooding was experienced in Southland. Unsettled conditions developed again on the 27th and continued until the ?nd of the month. The storm system responsible was a complex one but the most important feature, was an extensive cyclonic depression which approached the northern portion of the North Island from the north-west on the. 30th. North-easterly gales were experienced from the Bay of Plenty northwards. Except in the western and

southern areas of the South Island, . heavy rain was general. This was | especially the case in the Auckland ; province, where considerable flooding occurred, particularly in North Auc

• land. Much ot the North Island rei ceived more than the average I month’s, rainfall in the last three ■ days. Warm and sultry weather prevailed in most places throughout this ck- period.