ORIGIN OF SNOWSTORMS.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 July 1918, Page 2

ORIGIN OF SNOWSTORMS.

ANTARCTIC DISTURBANCES. The presence of a huge snowbeJl on a box on the footpath in Devon Street yesterday created a great deal of interest. The '•specimen" was brought down from the mountain yesterday morning by Mr. C. <X Ward, who was one of several others who made the trip up to the radius line yesterday. The appearance of snow, which 'is of exceedingly rare occurrence, has tempted some folk to ask' questions as to the origin of snow, and the conditions which create it. In this connection the curator of Pukekura Park (Mr. W. W. Smith); who keeps the local meteorological records for the Government, in conversation with a News representative, stated that, in the first place, snow is formed from moisture in the higher altitudes coming into contact with the strata of atmosphere of varying density oi temperature, which envelope the earth, and which also provide the condd* tions which make the snow what is known meteorologically as "wet" or "dry" snow. As to the causes which create the conditions precedent to a fall of snow, Mr. Smith said there remained yet a good deal to be discovered- Storms or disturbances in the Antarctic c&iibc the icefields to fracture, and icebergs i float away into the temperate zone, and these chill the atmosphere over a very wide field, and help to create the low temperatures such as have been experienced of late. The causes of the storms which fracture the icefields afford wide scope for research work, as comparatively little of & determinaifcive nature is known at present. Speaking of previous heavy snowfalls, Mr. Smith referred to a fall in 1897, when ho was in Ashlburton, at which time Sin of snow was recorded on the Canterbury plains. On that occasion, he said, icebergs had passed in the vicinity of the Chatham Islands—over 300 miles due east of Lyttefton—and a very low temperature had been experienced for some time.

The present fall of snow has been ex. ' eeptionally heavy, and even at Mount fIS-gmont it is more than usually thick. A well-known and old resident of New Plymouth states that only once before in fifty years does he remember snow falling in the town, and on that occasion it wac sufficient to cause hira to stop the contracting work he was doing; at the time for two days. Mr. Smith saw indications,of a .very cold night on Monday, and placed a thermometer in the centre of the recreation ground, where 4%' degrees of frost weM registered. The present indications, while not showing any marked change, suggest that more rain is likely within the next day or two.