Growers in Hawke's Bay are hoping for a warm summer.
Fruit, grape and vegetable growers across Hawke's Bay are living in hope they will be spared the seasonal hail which puts most on danger watch the two months before Christmas each year.
The hopes come in the face of season and climate predictions some have said are the most unusual
in years, including even the slightest of frosts near Hastings last week.
But one orchardist told Hawke's Bay Today that after all the talk of El Nino the region may be moving into "simply, a classic Hawke's Bay summer".
Certainly, MetService forecasts don't currently point to a likelihood of hail in the next 10 days, with temperatures in the fruit bowl around Hastings projected to range from the mid-high 20s to daily minimums of 12-13C, although, as Niwa climatologist Chris Brandolino says the conditions pointing to possible hail don't tend to come with much more than a few days' notice.
The pointers to an odd weather cycle came last week, when thermometers in micro-climates south of Hastings dipped marginally below zero, bringing fears of frosts, while in Napier it was as much as 10C warmer.
