H.—34.

and Dunedm. There have been very many cases of persons or institutions asking to be advised of the kind of weather to be expected over an interval of a few days when some particular operations were m hand, or when they may expect a certain desired type of weather. The forecasts supplied m these cases have, m general, been very successful. The increased frequency of reports required for aviation has led to an improvement in the accuracy of the general forecasts between lToOoTncflD f ° issued in tlle course of a year now amounts to Upper Aie Observations. The usual observations of winds in the upper air by means of pilot balloons were continued at Wellington, and similar data were supplied from the Magnetic Observatory, Christchurch. It has not yet been possible to establish any additional stations. Aviation Meteorology. Some reference to this section of the work has been made above. Plans have been prepared for providing weather information for aero-clubs, private fliers, and those engaged in aerial taxi work through Station 2YA of the National Broadcasting Service. The first issue will be before 7 a.m. The scheme of Air Radio which has been approved by Cabinet will greatly increase the facilities for the reception and dissemination of weather reports throughout New Zealand. With radio stations at the principal aerodromes it should be possible also to increase the amount and accuracy of the data provided especially for aviators. J Very valuable and cordial assistance has been received from the Post and Telegraph Department especially m the organizing of new reports, often at very short notice. Staff. flom 546 *-'• 40 6 pm ' d "' y - md " dmg •» d Mr R. G. Simmers, who holds a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship, has commenced a course of meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. This is at present one of the leading schools of meteorology in the world, and of the post-graduate students numbering fifteen to twenty, almost all are members of some official service with somf years' experience. They have been sent to the school by the various Governments in order to receive training in the highlv technical modern developments. 6 - t } wish to express my appreciation of the good spirit displayed and cordial co-operation afforded by the staff during the year. Publications. Regular publications have been maintained as follows :— (1) Monthly in the Government Gazette— Wellington observa^ions of P ref ®ure, temperature, &c, at the Kelburn Observatory, Notes on the weather of the Dominion for the month. Summary of temperature observations at climatological stations other than Wellington. Total rainfall and number of days for all rainfall stations. Once a year, also, a table is included giving the total rainfalls, differences from aver »ge, and the greatest day's fall for all stations during the previous year (2) Volume of Meteorological Observations " : This contains monthly and annual means of pressure, temperature, wind, sunshine, and other climatological data from upwards of forty stations ; monthly means for each hour of the day of pressure, temperature, rainfall, and sunshine at ellmgton, and temperature at Alexandra ; table of values of total solar radiation ; and a map showing departure from normal of rainfall over the whole country for the year concerned. The 1935 volume, the last to appear contains also reproductions of thermograph records for the Polar Year August 1932' to -February, 1934. G ' The pressure of routine work has been too great to permit of the allocation of much time to investigations. Meteorological Office Note No. 17 dealing with the climates of Hawke's Bay and North Auckland, to which reference was made last year, has been printed. For the Auckland Meeting of the prpaiLTpresented 6 :- ABS ° Clatl ° n f ° r tlle Advancement of Science, the following papers were E. Kidson : Water in the Atmosphere (an address). The Structure of the Atmosphere (part of a symposium). Minn N ° teS 0 % tJle N ew Zealand Climate (considered from the health point of view). w a M , % Cyclonic Storm of February 2nd, 1936, over Northern New Zealand W. A. IVlacky : Some Comparisons of the Invigorating Effect of the Climate in different parts of xV o it/ JuGCtICLYICL. It is hoped that the two latter will be published in the course of the coming year At the request of the Royal Meteorological Society an article on the Climate of New Zealand was prepared by myself and published in its Quarterly Journal. This article is one of a series covering the various Dominions and colonies of the Empire. The series is designed to be intelligible to the layman and to he useful to the tourist and settler, as well as the meteorologist. The article in question was illustrated by a number of photographs supplied by the Tourist and Publicity Department.

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