Spring weather evens out for weekend

Tairongo Biddle, 3, and his sister Tangiora Biddle, 7, Hastings, enjoying the swings in the playground at Cornwall Park, Hastings. Photo / Duncan Brown

Hawke's Bay incurred nearly five days of heavy rain last week but thankfully the taps have been tightly turned off for the weekend.

Last week the region incurred over 300mm of rain near the Kaweka Range, Wairoa more than 200mm and one farmer recorded 260mm of rainfall on his Napier farm."

Spring sunshine and barely-there breezes will settle over Hawke's Bay for the next two days before another front looms over the country.

While cloudy periods and isolated showers were expected in the north and west of both islands, warm temperatures are likely to continue in the east, with maximum temperatures reaching into the twenties.

MetService meteorologist Tui McInnes said spring is generally a bumpy month for weather patterns, but he was happy to see bright weather from Hawke's Bay stretching down to Wellington.

"Spring is very similar to the season of autumn where you get these low pressure systems and it can make the patterns a little unpredictable."

"This season's weather pattern does contrast quite a lot compared to last year. We had a very calm spring last year."

On Thursday, Wairoa reached 25C, while Napier reached close to 23C.

McInnes said the weekend highs wouldn't stretch that far as there was a slight southerly lingering in the air.

He said despite the slightly sodden soil from last week's heavy weather event, Hawke's Bay is in for a "very good weekend".

"Saturday and Sunday is looking great, it's not until Monday that we've got something slightly more ominous.

"It could be cooler due to that southerly flick, it won't be windy, but it will be a wee bit cooler. It will be about 17C on Saturday, 20C Sunday and then 21C for Monday.

"So Hawke's Bay will be sitting quite comfortably in those high teens and low 20s which is a nice result."

McInnes said although we're not in the high temperatures yet, it was time to whack out the sunscreen.

"Although it's not going to be really hot, you come inside at the end of the day and realise that you've got a few red patches on your face and you think-oh it's that time of the year again."

"Hawke's Bay, you got a bloody good weekend ahead," he said.