Hawke's Bay is in for a fine weekend

A chilly autumn evening at Te Aute College chapel. Photo/Paul Taylor

Hang out your washing, get to the park or do some winter gardening - Hawke's Bay is in for a fine weekend.

After nearly a week of rain, which caused some problems for motorists with surface flooding on Monday, the region is in for a sunny, albeit chilly, break.

A high-pressure system was due to set in yesterday easing cool winds and bringing fine weather.

MetService meteorologist Ravi Kandula said a south to southwest flow and tropical system which brought cloud and rain over the region for the last few days would start lifting last night.

This morning there might still be a few clouds but these would break up by the afternoon which was expected to be "super" fine with some light winds.

"This will hold for most of Sunday and a big part of Monday."

Overnight on Monday or early Tuesday morning things were expected to deteriorate with cloud and rain coming back for the rest of the week.

"Monday there is a chance of a little bit of pressure and a slight south easterly."

Overnight temperatures were expected to be cooler than they had been in the week last night, tonight and tomorrow night due to the lack of clouds, he said.

"We're still in that fairly cold air mass."

Napier and Hastings were expected to get as low as 0C-1C last night and tonight, 4C tomorrow but increasing to 10C-11C from Monday to Thursday because of the cloud.

Highs would sit between 14C-16C throughout the region for the entire weekend and into the week.

"It's all very normal for this time, typical winter weather."

Last Monday the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) issued area warnings for surface flooding from Glengarry to Bay View on State Highway 5 and Tangoio to Tutira on State Highway 2 because of the adverse weather.

Hawke's Bay police responded to reports of surface flooding at the intersection of SH2 and Tangoio Settlement Rd with traffic flow being reduced to one lane.

The lower part of a nearby cemetery was also reported to be underwater.

On Tuesday, the chilly weather caused snow showers on State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupo.

Last week has showed that winter has well and truly set in after Niwa's climate summary for May revealed parts of Hawke's Bay experiencing their warmest autumn in decades.

For Wairoa it was the third warmest since the outbreak of World War II.