Fog brings coastline an air of mystery

Westerlies are expected to help push away this fog, viewed from Marine Parade, Napier, yesterday. Photo / Doug Laing

A lingering sea fog that hung over Napier for most of yesterday was more of a seasonal curiosity than any great disruption.

Essentially it was caused by water off the New Zealand coast, which was at its annual coldest, meeting the warmer land and milder temperatures of the spring, said MetService duty forecaster Leigh Matheson.

It provided a ceiling over parts of the coast closer to the sea, including Napier Port and Bluff Hill, and Hawke's Bay Airport, but was not expected to cause any significant disruption to flights.

While thousands of people out and about on Napier's beachfront waited for the fog to disperse and reveal the bright sunny day that had been forecast, the fog was awaiting the arrival of westerlies to start pushing it "out towards the Chathams", Ms Matheson said.

She said there was a possibility there would more of the conditions early today, but they were expected to clear, unveiling the city to the cloudless skies otherwise forecast with temperatures up to 21C for at least three days until rain and a predicted maximum temperature of 14C on Wednesday.

The damper weather is expected for only a short time, with fine weather forecast for next week.

Overcast conditions to showers and rain are forecast inland, including Hastings.