Get set for more rain

BEACH BOYS: Oscar Averill (left), Liam Gough, and Roman Walewski, all 14, surfing off Westshore yesterday. PHOTO/Paul Taylor

More rain is forecast as Hawke's Bay continues a return to a normal winter this week.

But it's not expected to be as heavy as last week, when more than 40mm of rain was recorded on Friday in many parts of the region.

Among the heaviest rainfalls for last week, according to Hawke's Bay Regional Council website figures, were at Ngahere, west of Napier and Hastings, which had 140.5mm, further south at Park Peak where 121mm was recorded, and Pukeorapa, northeast of Wairoa, where the 78.5mm included more than 40mm in less than 12 hours on Friday afternoon and evening.

Napier had 40.8mm on Friday, Hastings 46.4mm, and the Takapau Plains recording station near Dannevirke had 43mm, in each case more than at each site in the previous fall on June 29-30.

At Mahia, almost 25mm was recorded on Friday.

Little rain is forecast over the next two days, and temperatures in Napier-Hastings were expected to drop to about 1C tonight with around 17C being forecast for Thursday.

Weather and climate agencies have forecast that July is likely to be slightly wetter than the historic average, after a first half the year in which rainfall was in many areas less than half of average.