Hawke's Bay weather: Wind hits, snow on Napier-Taupō Rd coming, big waves expected for Mahia

Strong winds blew across Hawke's Bay, including in Havelock North, on Monday

Strong southerlies have already caused problems on exposed Hawke's Bay roads - now it might be the turn of the sea and the snow.

Drivers travelling along State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupō have been advised to watch for snow, with MetService issuing a road snowfall warning near the summit.

On Monday, Eastern District Police advised that the Taihape to Napier road would be closed from 4pm due to forecast snow and cold overnight conditions and would be reassessed early tomorrow morning.

Up to 1cm of snow is expected to settle down to 500m between 6am and midday on Tuesday.

Strong winds felled several trees, closing SH50 near its intersection with Makaroro Rd for roughly six hours on Monday morning.

It was open and fully cleared by 12.40pm.

Motorists were also urged to take care along SH2, between Takapau and Norsewood. That was reinforced when a large branch fell across the road near Takapau about 3.30pm.

Strong winds also caused disruptions on Hawke's Bay highways in May, with another strong wind warning in place. Photo / Google Maps

Strong winds also knocked out power to about 400 homes between Kereru and Pukehamoamoa around midday on Monday, but it was restored shortly after.

About 100 homes in the Maraetotara area were also without power from about 3pm.

MetService issued a strong wind watch for Hawke's Bay south of Napier, including parts of Tararua District and Wairarapa today.

West to northwest gales were expected to last until about 10pm today.

Meteorologist Andy Best said westerlies would turn southerly this evening with gusts of 100 km/h possible on Tuesday in parts of coastal Hawke's Bay.

This would also bring colder temperatures.

"Napier generally around this time of year has a maximum temperature of 15 C.

"Tomorrow it will be 10C."

It would be the same for Hastings, he said.

"It will be cold [on Tuesday] but that should recover quite quickly."

Those on the water and around coastal areas have also been warned by Hawke's Bay Civil Defence of a southerly swell, with waves of up to 5m expected south of Cape Turnagain and east of Wairoa towards Mahia Peninsula tomorrow morning.

This swell is expected to ease to 4m by Wednesday evening and 3m by Thursday.

It could also mean higher than normal waves may reach sheltered areas such as Westshore, Clifton and Te Awanga.

A spokesperson for Napier Port said they were monitoring weather conditions and would notify customers if they anticipated any disruption to operations.