The Meteorology of the Wairarapa.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3180, 15 April 1889, Page 2

The Meteorology of the Wairarapa.

There is probably not another district in New Zealand whioli presents so many curious raeteorogical features as the Wairarapa-that is to say the stretch of country which lies between Pallisor Bay iii the South, the Tararua ranges in the West, the boundary of the provincial district of Wellington in the North, and the Pacific Ocean in the East. Nothing relating to tho subject has over appoared in print, and a few notes on it, which are the result of twenty years' _ observation, may therefore prove interesting to our readers. It seems almost a platitude to say that the prevailing wind in tho district is North-West, yet tho statement is

necessary in order to make a begiiv ling. The start of a Nor-Wester ir -he Wairarapais usually accompanied ivith a warning from Captain Edwin jovernment Meteorological Observer ;o expeot rain, and we are afraid tha ibis officer's predictions have oftei joeu subjected to a good deal o. ridioulo simply becauso the rain dii lot reach the plains of this district Sain would probably be seen in tin '(luges, and all the rivers might wbaps, bocome high, as it proo: hat one part of the country, at anj 'ate, bad. not boeu forgotten ty rupiterPiuvius; but, as a rule, onl; tarts of the lower lands would feel it f tlio season happens to bo a drj ipe, settlers have irequont opportu lities of watching these antics of lh< feather; but their farms are likely it amain as dry as over. It is onlj occasionally that a North-.westerlj ain covers the whole valley. Mud Qore frequently it draws away froir ho hills in belts - a peculiarity i'hich must be very puzzling o the casual observer. If a travellei ould cover the distance from Pallisei Jay tothoManawatuat ls T gawapunu ii ono day, and the weather happcuei o be suitable, he would find himsel Ii heavy driving rain all along tin restern side of the lake as far as thi eigliborhood of the Tauherenikai iver. Thence to Greytown he c/Quk' ike off his overcoat without fear o: letting wet; but from Hie iasUiamei lace to Carterton he woult m\ with a succession of hear resh showers. Across the Taratali )laiu the sun would he shiuiiij brightlyalltheforaioou, and Mas tertou and the country to the Rua in.ahanga.on.tlieroad to Wo'odville \vould be found quite dry, North waitf of tlutt rjver rain would b again, experienced, and the furthe north lh<>lravellor got, the heavie 1» would find it, Not knowin

better,'he would think that lie was having a showery day, and'that the rain became hoayior-.aa the- day advanced, while, as a matter oi fact, he was passing through several belts of rain and sunshine on a line which ruins parrallel to to main chain of I I the Tarawa; We will not. atteinpt r \to explain the reason of this pheno- ' menou.. Many old settlers say that; it is the bush that draws the rain, and " it is'certainly a fact'that there is bush in tho rainy Wts; but this should not be accepted as a sufficient fact without taking other possible factors .. into consideration. It may be accepted as a fact that rain generally does fall on the western .-side: 'of-:, the Tararua when the meteorogiftloffioe sends warnings to expect it in the Wairarapa, On examining the Tararua it will be found that it slopes down considerably opposito the lake and Featherston. To the north-west of the country between the Tauherenikau and Greytown lies a solid wall of mountain, which reaches its highest point in Mount Hector (which is also the highest .in the. range). Opposite the wet belt between Greytown and Carterton there is a marked depression in the' range, which, for several miles, does not exceed four thousand feet in height. Then there is the chain of -l high peaks whioh extends from J Mount Holdsworth to Mount Dundaa ■r a distance which- corresponds with that by road from Carterton to the Ruamahanga. In the whole of this chain • there are no depressions of any note. From Mount Dundas, the range slopes to tho north, till, at the Mauawatu Gorge it is probably not more than 700 or 800 feet high. Again, starting from the northern end of tho district, it will be found that the rain reaches the coast at Palhser Bay. Between Greytown and Carterton it extends only a mile or two across tho main road. At the Camp it extends to theEangitumau; at Mauricnville, to Perry's clearing, in the Valley ol the Wangaehu; at Eketahuna it goes as far as Alfredton; while at Pahiatua , it travels right to the Puketoi ranges and even to the coast. I leave those who are interested to draw their own oonolußionß, Bain direct from the north generally extends over the whole of the district, being ap- A parently quite independent of hill well as valley. North-easterly rains, » which are the most useful on tho coast, generally extend only to a line formed by the Puketoi and the watershed between tho Buamahanga andWainuiora rivers. Occasionally, however, they cover the whole district, in .which caso they nearly always last over twenty-hours. South-east, south and south-west rains, which tho great majority of settlers lump under the term " sou'easter," cover the valley, and tho country to the east of it, but they must be very severe before they cross the saddle (the backbone of the island) between Mauricoville and Eketahuna. With regard to tho force of the wind, the heaviest gales come from north-west to south-west -more frequently from either of the two points named than from anywhere between them. On the coast, however, any easterly wind is apt to be heavy. Only the westerly winds blow in heavy squalls, a easter'proper being the steadieijgp of all. Such are the leading fixtures of the weather in tho district. They • are in their very nature subject to an almost inconceivable number of variations, but none' of these can affect the principle. Settlers, old as well as now, will find it to their ' interest to study them, keeping a steady eye on the barometer. By this means they will find themselves able to forecast the weather with tolerable certainty, and to arrange their work accordingly,