Hawke’s Bay gets sneak preview of spring, could hit 20C this week

New born lambs enjoying the warmer Hawke's Bay weather on Tuesday. Photo / Alex Corbin

It’s been close to two months since a city in Hawke’s Bay hit 20C, but a hint of spring on the horizon could well change that this week.

Temperatures around Hawke’s Bay are increasing over this week after a frigid tail end of July and beginning of August.

MetService meteorologist Oscar Shiviti said temperatures will slowly pick up in the region from Wednesday onwards, with highs of 19C expected in Hastings and Napier on Thursday, while Wairoa will enjoy 20C.

Napier looks like it will hit 20C on Friday for the first time since the city hit 20.5C on July 4 this year.

Low temperatures look set to climb as well, with Hastings having lows between 8C and 10C from Thursday to Sunday while Napier enjoys lows between 8C and 11C.

But Shiviti said the warmer temperatures will bring wet and windy weather across the region.

“There is a rain band that’s coming in from the north, which has a warmer air mass, and that’s why the temperatures are slightly climbing.

“So that’s a rainy Thursday into the early hours of Friday, and then there’ll be a dry period before maybe those rainy conditions come back in late Saturday into Sunday.”

The warmer weather is expected to last until Sunday, where the high looks to drop to 16C in Napier, Hastings, and Wairoa.

Central Hawke’s Bay residents will need to tough out the cold a little longer as strong westerlies and rain are expected to keep temperatures in the area colder than the rest of the region, with anticipated highs of 14C on Wednesday, 17C on Thursday and Saturday, and 15C on Friday before dropping to a high of 14C on Sunday.

Shiviti warned that there may be a period of cooler temperatures lurking behind the incoming rain band.

“It is certainly a look into how spring may shape up later on,” he 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.