NZ weather summary February 1960

[Rwood]

February 1960: February was particularly wet, cloudy and warm over the northern half of the North Island. In all districts good rains were welcome after January’s dry weather, though in Gisborne and Hawkes Bay conditions were too wet and also too cloudy and humid for fruit crops. In South Canterbury dry weather was still retarding pasture growth.

Rainfall:  Rainfall was double the average value over most of the Auckland province. It was also somewhat above average about Cook Strait and in parts of Southland. For Te Aroha, with 17.42” of rain, it was the wettest February in 54 years of observation. Many thunderstorms were reported over the North Island on the 2nd. In the Bay of Plenty and Rotorua total rainfalls for the 3 days were as high as 6-12” at many stations. Serious flooding occurred in Opotiki on the 4th. In Canterbury and the Wairarapa it was appreciably drier than usual, the deficiency being mainly 40-60%.

Temperatures: Temperatures were about 2F above average from Wanganui northward. They were 1F above average in Nelson and on the West Coast.

Sunshine: Sunshine was below average by 40-70 hours in coastal districts from Napier to Tauranga and also in eastern Northland. In most other parts of the North Island it was also somewhat below average. Most western and southern districts of the South Island were favoured with about 30 hours more sunshine than usual.

[Some totals: Te Hapua 192, Kaitaia 190, Kerikeri 150, Whangarei 153, Auckland 186, Tauranga 167, Whakatane 171, Taupo 174, Hamilton 183, New Plymouth 206, Masterton 169, Gisborne 146, Napier 165, Wairoa 162, Paraparaumu 209, Ohakea 198, Palmerston Nth 174, Levin 184, Wellington 215, Wanganui 193, Westport 206, Hokitika 196, Greymouth 188, Haast 209, Nelson 234, Blenheim 227, Grassmere 206, Kaikoura 182, Mt Cook 158, Methven 200, Christchurch 181, Tekapo 229, Timaru 178, Waimate 158, Omarama 194, Dunedin 185, Queenstown 208, Alexandra 213, Invercargill 190, Raoul Is 93, Campbell Is 109, Chatham Is 138].


Sources: NZ Met. Misc. pub. 107 (Climatological table, NZ Gazette) and NZ Met. Misc. pub. 109 (Meteorological Observations) - additional comments by the poster.

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