Cold snap for Hawke’s Bay: Rain and chill in weekend weather forecast

Cold weather and rain are on the cards for Hawke's Bay this weekend. Photo / Paul Taylor

Don’t break out the jandals just yet Hawke’s Bay – more wet wintry weather is on its way this weekend.

MetService meteorologist Katie Hillyer said there is “definitely a fair bit of weather” coming, with every region in New Zealand expected to get some rain from Thursday onwards.

But in terms of places to be from Thursday on, Hillyer said Hawke’s Bay is actually one of the better ones.

The Ruahine and Kaweka Ranges will shelter the region from the brunt of a front coming up from the Southern Ocean, sweeping up over the country and directing rain from the northwesterly direction with the wind.

“Hawke’s Bay is not copping the worst of the initial front, but unfortunately it’s quite a bit more exposed to the showers and behind, which do fall over the weekend,” Hillyer said.

From Friday morning, the remainder of the front will bring scattered rain, clearing later that evening and bringing calm weather, but only momentarily as a southerly comes in on Saturday morning, bringing showers with it.

“That’s really where Hawke’s Bay is going to see more persistent, heavier rain,” Hillyer said.

“Not just that, it will also bring a notably colder air mass.”

Hillyer said while highs for Thursday and Friday in Hastings and Napier will sit around 14C to 16C, the weekend is expected to bring highs of 11C for Hastings, and 13C and 12C for Napier.

The weekend’s minimum temperatures in Hastings will be around 4C to 5C, while Napier will have lows of 3C to 5C.

“These temperatures aren’t strange for winter, but they’re definitely chilly,” she said.

Hillyer expects the rain to hang around into the start of next week for Hawke’s Bay with the southerly, which will turn into a southeasterly.

“The showers just keep flowing in, and there’s just a very gradual easing from around Sunday morning, but the showers will continue,” she said.

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier.