Playing beach cricket in the heat at Waimārama on Sunday. Photo / Ian Cooper
Playing beach cricket in the heat at Waimārama on Sunday. Photo / Ian Cooper
Temperatures that peaked at 32C in Hawke's Bay on Sunday sent hundreds to the nearest cooling spot, and prompted warnings about fire risks.
MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker said Napier was the region's hotspot, hitting 32.0C at the airport, with 31.9C recorded in Hastings and 30C in Wairoa.
MetService meteorologist DanCorrigan said the hot weather was set to last region-wide until a cold snap hits on Thursday.
"We're looking at temperatures in the high 20s - 27C, 28C, 29C - across the board for Hawke's Bay on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
"Thursday is going to be noticeably cooler, so we're only looking at 21C or 22C for Thursday to Friday," he said.
Rain is expected on Thursday, combined with a southerly breeze. It clears up slightly on Friday, but showers are likely to continue again into Saturday.
"We get a bit of a sea breeze coming in the afternoon taking the edge off the heat a little bit, but no real strong winds to speak of, and when that southerly does come we are not expecting it to be a cracker of a southerly, nothing to write home about in terms of strong winds," Corrigan said.
Maraetotara falls was a popular spot on Sunday for people to relieve themselves from the heat with a dip. Photo / Ian Cooper
Fire and Emergency NZ regional group manager Gordon Foster said there had only been small vegetation fires so far this summer in Hawke's Bay because there was no wind.
"Normally if you have wind you'll get them, but we haven't got the wind at the moment so it's quite good."
He said the season has definitely been better than previous years for fires.
"That's mainly because we're getting a lot more moisture in the nor-easterlies, rather than those dry nor-westerlies."
He said that fire services were considering putting restrictions in for the region, which could be as soon as Monday.
Senior station officer Bryan Dunphy at the Napier fire station said it was starting to dry out again after some heavy rain.
"At the moment we've got an open fire season which means people are allowed to burn within certain conditions, but they need to be more mindful of the fact that it is starting to dry out."
Tractors for launching boats at Waimārama. Fires on public land such as beaches like Waimārama are typically prohibited in all fire seasons. Photo / Ian Cooper
He said that although permits aren't required, people needed to be attentive with any backyard fires and barbecues.
"We are still getting vegetation fires even though it is an open season because it's dryer. You can see on the hills just to the south of Napier and Hastings that are just starting to dry out."
He said they often got vegetation fires on the beach where people had bonfires or cooking fires.
"The problem is that people leave them unattended, just leave them to burn and don't put them out afterwards, which means we end up being called to them unnecessarily."
