Vana Harihari and her grandchild Laykin cool off at the splash pads at Cornwall Park in Hastings. Photo / Jack Riddell
Vana Harihari and her grandchild Laykin cool off at the splash pads at Cornwall Park in Hastings. Photo / Jack Riddell
Fires broke out, bitumen started to melt and people flocked to water and ice creams as Hawke’s Bay temperatures yet again hit more than 30C on Monday.
A stretch of State Highway 2 at Mohaka, south of Wairoa, was closed on Monday afternoon as fire crews battled a fire ina pine plantation.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokeswoman said they had two trucks and two helicopters responding, while a crew of 32 forestry industry firefighters were also responding.
The road was closed between the intersections with Mohaka Township Rd and Te Kumi Rd, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi said, advising people to delay travel.
A second small fire also broke out on Monday near Ongaonga. The 5m by 5m grass fire was reported at 1.47pm and two crews responded and extinguished it.
MetService meteorologist Devlin Lynden said a large ridge of high pressure was sitting off the east of the country, while another ridge was forming in the Tasman Sea and a slow-moving front was sitting over the central North Island.
“That’s bringing warm northwesterly winds over the North Island ... and that will continue through the week, perhaps getting a bit lighter and then turning southwesterly.
“But, for now, we’ve got these warm northwesterly winds, which are dragging quite a warm air mass from the northern Australia area down over the country, and that’s part of where these warm temperatures are coming from.”
After highs of 31C on Saturday and 29C on Sunday, MetService had predicted Hastings’ high temperature for Monday would hit an oppressive 34C.
As at 3pm, Lynden expected the heat would peak at 33C late on Monday afternoon before a general slow cooling trend began to take over, dropping the temperature to a high of 30C by Tuesday.
“So, Hastings ... they’re looking at a high of 30C on Wednesday and then on Thursday a high of 26C,” he said.
“That’s as those warm northwesterlies gradually turn southwesterly and that southwest turn will bring some cooler air down south up and keep a cap on temperatures as we head through to Thursday and Friday.”
Meanwhile, Napier enjoyed a high of around 29C at the airport weather station as at 3pm, but the Art Deco city heat was dampened by some easterly sea breezes in the middle of the day.
Richard Gilbertson of Havelock North cools off with an ice cream from Rush Munro's Ice Creamery in Hastings. Photo / Michaela Gower
Napier can expect highs of 27C and 24C for the rest of this week.
Wairoa enjoyed a high of 32C on Monday and can expect highs of 27C on Tuesday and 29C on Wednesday before dropping to 24C on Thursday and 21C on Friday.
Waipukurau hit 31C on Monday and can expect highs in the 30C until Thursday when the temperature will drop to a high of 26C.
Central Hawke’s Bay District Council put a warning on social media for road users in the area to reduce speed.
They said bitumen softens on the road because of the heat, leaving surfaces sticky and slippery.
Lynden said that conditions for the region for the remainder of the week would see continued sunny conditions, with the occasional high cloud coming over and the odd shower in the Kaweka Range, but no rain was expected in towns.
“Weather-wise, I mean, it is really just these temperatures,” he said.
“Enjoy the hot afternoons.”
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in the UK, Germany, and New Zealand.
