Wet Easter weekend ended with a warm, humid night

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Sleep for many would have been hard to come by last night, with a warm night and high humidity at the end of unsettled weather over Easter.

After morning rain, yesterday delivered a high of 25 degrees and warmth which persisted into the night, with the mercury at 19 degrees at 2am this morning.

Yesterday’s sun gave Hastings the country’s high of 26.5.

The warmest April day in Gisborne was 28.5 degrees on the 22nd in 2017.

Easter weekend saw the district get another dose of rain, with the heaviest falls in the Gisborne area and surrounding hills.

The largest seven-day totals were recorded at the gauge at Monowai Bridge on the Waimata River (165mm), Panikau (156mm), Te Puia Springs (135), Tolaga Bay (132mm) and the Whareratas (122mm).

Rain totals elsewhere in the district ranged from 30 to 100mm.

River levels came up at Tolaga Bay where the Hikuwai peaked at 5.9 metres

In Gisborne, Waimata River peaked at five metres.

As a result of the rain, soil moisture levels are still well up for the time of year and wetter than normal.

Niwa’s daily climate maps show most of the Gisborne-Wairoa region at moisture surplus, or just below field capacity. — RH