The Weather. 377 



THE WEATHER. 



Extracts from the Monthly Report of the Chief 

 Meteorologist for the Union. 



Mean barometric pressure lower than usual over the western half of the 

 Union, Ibut practically normal in the east and north-east; a mean monthly 

 temperature one degree higher than usual on the whole, but sub-normal oyer 

 the Orange Free State, Bechuanaland, and central Transvaal ; an alternation 

 of hot and cold spells, with some exceptionally warm da-ys ; "wintry" weather 

 over the west and south-west Cape; an excess of rainfall over the western half 

 of the Cape, with a deficiency over the east of the Cape, Free State, Transvaal, 

 and greater part of Natal ; frequent thunderstorms, a few hailstorms, and one 

 or two destructive local windstorms, Avere the most noteworthy features of the 

 weather of February, 1921. 



Precipitation during the month was somewhat abnormal in distribution 

 and character, partaking more of the nature of "winter" rains over the west 

 and south-west than of the usual summer type. Precipitation was in excess 

 of the normal, frequently by large amounts, over the west, south, centre, and 

 north of the Cape Province and the Avestern portions of the Free State and 

 Transvaal. Surplus amounts were also registered in the north-east of the 

 Orange Free State, in the neighbourhood of Harrismith and Liudley, the 

 eastern portioiLS of the Transvaal high veld, Piet Retief, and the south-central 

 portion of Natal from Durban to Weenen. A sub-normal rainfall, on the other 

 hand, occurred over the northern and eastern Transvaal, as well as the south- 

 east of the high veld, the major portion of Natal, the extreme north and more 

 easterly parts of the Fi'ee State, the more easterly parts of the northern Karroo, 

 as well as the north-east and south-east of the Cape, including Kaffraria. The 

 excess amounts in the Cape were commonly from 2-3 inches, particularly over 

 the Karroo and Bechuanaland (even Namaqualand having an inch more than 

 usual), and reaching plus 6.31 inches at Swellendani ; over the Transvaal and 

 Free State the surplus amounts were inclined to be somewhat lower, about 

 li to 2i inches, but reaching plus 3.32 inches at Bloemfontein and 3.90 inches 

 at Bethal; in iSTatal the excesses were lowest of all, in no case amounting to 

 one inch. Over the eastern Cape the deficits were mostly less than an inch, 

 but amounting to 3.03 inches at Port St. Johns and 2.16 inches at Umtata, 

 both in the Transkei; in the Orange Free State the deficiencies v\^ere less than 

 an inch, as was generally the case in Natal, except at Ladysmith and Hlabisa 

 (Zululand), where it was between 1.25 and 1.5 inch. The shortage was generally 

 greater in the Transvaal and Swaziland than in the other Provinces, varying 

 mostly between 1^ and 2i inches, but exceeding 3 inches at Mbabane. 



The weather, as a whole, was close, sultry, and muggy, with thunderstorms 

 in some parts of the Union every day of the month ; as a result of this type 

 of precipitation, the rainfall was unequal in distribution, being largely sporadic, 

 particularly in Natal and the Transvaal, with a marked absence of those steady 

 soaking rains so beneficial to crops. Crop reports are consequently of a rather 

 varied nature, conditions being apparently most promising in the Rustenburg, 

 Standerton, and parts of the Waterberg and Pietersburg Districts of the 

 Transvaal, and parts of Natal and the centre of the Free State. Conditions 

 generally have improved considerably over the Cape Province, but are still 

 unsatisfactory over the greater part of Natal, Swaziland, the east of the Free 

 State, and the greater portion of the low and middle velds of the Transvaal. 

 Taken as a whole, the crops and veld did not promise at all well at the end 

 of the month, having been too adversely afi'ected by the drought of January. 



