Hastings hits its hottest November temperature in at least 60 years as Hawke’s Bay swelters

Meteorologists believe Hastings hit its highest November temperature in at least 60 years early on Thursday afternoon.

Meteorologist Chester Lampkin, of national climate agency Earth Sciences (formerly Niwa) said the temperature had unofficially hit 32.9C.

In site records dating back to 1965, the previous high November high appeared to have been 32.7C on November 23, 2016.

He said 32.1C on November 5, 2019, appeared to have been the second highest.

In Napier, the temperature peaked at about 31C, while in Wairoa a local weather site recorded a peak at 29.5C.

It was the second day in a row on which Hastings had recorded the hottest temperature nationwide, and, on confirmation of the Thursday temperature, likely the second month in a row Hastings has had its highest month temperature in at least 60 years.

The peak temperature in Hastings on Wednesday was 31.2C, while Napier was No 10 on the nationwide MetService list at 29.3C.

Hastings recorded 32.1C on October 23, officially the highest October temperature in Hastings in 60 years, according to a the last monthly climate summary from Earth Sciences.

The nationwide October high recorded by the agency was 32.5C on the same day at Middle Creek, near Kaikōura, the second-highest October temperature recorded in New Zealand.

The mean October temperature – across both day and night – for Dannevirke was 13.9C, the highest in records dating back to 1951 and 2.3C above average for the month.