NZ weather summary September 1974

[Rwood]

September 1974:   September was a cloudy, warm month marked by an unusually high frequency of easterly to north-easterly winds. In many areas the weather was favourable for farming, but it was too wet in most eastern districts.

Rainfall: Rainfall showed wide variations, especially in the South Island. It was above normal in eastern districts from central Canterbury to Gisborne and in some other areas, but less than half the normal value over most of Otago and Southland. Parts of the Kaikoura Coast and North Canterbury received 4-6 times the normal rainfall, of which more than half fell during easterlies on the 3rd and 4th. Clinton River, northwest of Kaikoura, had 236mm on these 2 days. This has been a very wet year in some eastern districts and also in Wellington. Masterton, Wellington, Kaikoura and Christchurch already have totals well above their annual normal.

285mm at Mt Bruce, 304mm at Hanmer (highest since 1943), 258mm at Kaikoura (highest, 474% of normal), 2mm at Earnscleugh.

Temperatures:   Temperatures were above normal, mainly by 1.5C in the North Island and by 1C in the South Island. The 28th was a particularly cold day in southerlies, with snow down to comparatively low levels in Canterbury.

26.4C maximum at Moutere hills on the 20th, -4.2C minimum at Ophir on the 20th.

Sunshine:  Sunshine was below normal buy more than 40 hours over nearly all eastern districts from Canterbury to Hawkes Bay besides Nelson, Wellington, Taupo and eastern Bay of Plenty. Masterton’s 75 hours and Dannevirke’s 81 hours were lower than any September totals previously recorded in New Zealand. {Lowered by several places since, new low record is 59 hours}. Wellington’s 110 hours was the lowest recorded there in over 45 years of observations. Only South Westland with Invercargill and some other parts of Southland received about 30 hours above normal.

[Some totals: Kaitaia 158, Leigh 178, Auckland 163, Tauranga 161, Whakatane 162, Taupo 112, Hamilton 153, Taumarunui 131, New Plymouth 152, Masterton 75, Dannevirke 81, Gisborne 140, Napier 134, Ohakea 148, Palmerston North 106, Wellington 110, Stratford 118, Wanganui 133, Westport 147, Hokitika 168, Haast 168, Nelson 146, Blenheim 143, Kaikoura 132, Mt Cook 120, Mt John 160, Methven 141, Christchurch 126, Timaru 110, Waimate 91, Dunedin Aero 146, Dunedin 126, Queenstown 165, Alexandra 175, Invercargill 163].

Sources: NZ Met. Misc. pub. 107 (Climatological table, NZ Gazette) and NZ Met. Misc. pub. 109 (Meteorological Observations).

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