The New Zealander http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ Wednesday December 11th 1850 ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE To the Editor of the New Zealander SIR - On my arrival in the colony I was so much struck with the very contradictory accounts which were given me of the climate of the country around Auckland that I resolved to keep a regular record of the weather, in order that I might be able to send a really correct account of it to my friends. I have therefore noted down regularly the state of the weather every day from the 1st December, 1849, and I send you a copy of the results, thinking that it may be interesting to some of your readers. Your readers in this colony are of course aware of the fact, which it is yet proper to mention for the sake of others, that last winter is, I believe, universally allowed to have been a much better one than the average of winters here. I rather suppose however, that the spring, or at least part of it, has been fully as wet and stormy as the average Year Month clear cloudy Clear Showery Wet days days windy days 1849 Dec 22 1 0 5 3 1850 Jan 22 1 0 7 1 Feb 20 3 1 4 0 Mar 16 2 2 10 1 Apr 18 2 0 8 2 May 14 5 0 10 2 Jun 12 3 1 9 5 Jul 16 4 0 10 1 Aug 12 2 3 12 2 Sep 15 1 1 11 2 Oct 9 5 2 15 0 Nov 13 2 1 8 6 Of frosty mornings there were - in June, 5; July, 5; August, 3; and September, 6; in all 19. I have set down as wet days all those on which rain fell continuously during the greater part of the day. I have set down as showery, every day in which I observed rain to fall in any less degree; on some of these a very considerable quantity of rain fell at intervals, accompanied by heavy squalls, many of them, however, were fine days, with only slight showers in the mornings or evenings. R. B. LUSK. December 9, 1850