May 1973: It was a mild, windy month with an unusually high frequency of winds from between west and southwest. This caused cloudy, wet weather in Southland and on the West Coast but dry, sunny weather in areas such as Gisborne and Northland. Farming conditions were favourable, except that in Marlborough and North Canterbury the persistence of below-average rainfall for the 7th successive month caused a serious shortage of feed. A small local tornado caused some damage at Weymouth, on Manukau Harbour, on the 9th.
Rainfall: Rainfall was above normal in nearly all western districts south of Auckland, also in Southland with most of Otago and in Wairarapa. The surplus exceeded 50% in North Taranaki, Manawatu, Buller, North Westland, Fiordland and most of Southland. Elsewhere rainfall was below normal, with a deficiency of more than 50% in eastern Northland, Gisborne, northern Hawkes Bay, and a considerable part of Nelson and Marlborough.
809mm rainfall at Milford, 162mm at Invercargill, 43mm at Wairoa, 22mm at Alexandra.
Temperatures: Temperatures were mainly above normal by 1C. Departures were somewhat greater over the North Island than the South Island. A cold spell on the 21st brought snow to low levels in parts of the South Island.
24.0C maximum at Christchurch Aero on the 5th,
-8.0C minimum at Waiouru on the 22nd.
Sunshine: Sunshine was below normal by 20-50 hours over the greater part of the South Island and also in Manawatu, with greatest deficiencies on the West Coast, where Greymouth received only 58 hours. Northern and most eastern districts of the North Island had 20-35 hours more than normal.
[Some totals: Kaitaia 161, Kerikeri 161, Whangarei 161, Leigh 167, Auckland 144, Tauranga 155, Whakatane 183, Taupo 145, Opotiki 166, Auckland Aero 125, Hamilton 114, New Plymouth Aero 130, Masterton n/a, Gisborne 191, Napier 172, Wairoa 183, Paraparaumu 110, Ohakea 111, Kairanga 103, Palmerston North 70, Levin 100, Wellington 107, Stratford 123, Ohakune 75, Wanganui 109, Takaka 171, Westport 66, Hokitika 69, Greymouth 58, Haast 95, Riwaka 154, Nelson 144, Blenheim 163, Grassmere 152, Kaikoura 138, Mt Cook 63, Mt John 154, Methven 129, Christchurch 125, Tekapo n/a, Timaru 98, Waimate 105, Omarama 138, Palmerston 93, Dunedin Aero 89, Dunedin 80, Oamaru 106, Queenstown 78, Alexandra 120, Invercargill 67, Raoul Is 156, Campbell Is 19, Chatham Is 59
{3rd lowest}].
Sources: NZ Met. Misc. pub. 107 (Climatological table, NZ Gazette) and NZ Met. Misc. pub. 109 (Meteorological Observations).
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July 26, 2019, 04:48:17 PM