Heavy rain watch for Wairoa as wet weather hits northern Hawke’s Bay

• Wairoa and northern Hawke’s Bay are under a heavy rain watch for 16 hours from 8am Thursday.
• MetService’s Mmathapelo Makgabutlane says a low pressure system will bring heavy rain to northern Hawke’s Bay and cloudy conditions to the rest.
• Wairoa’s soils are wetter than other areas in the country, so residents should prepare for potential impacts.

While the west coast of the North Island looks down the barrel of a drought, Wairoa and northern Hawke’s Bay can expect a wet end of the week with MetService putting the area under a heavy rain watch for 16 hours from 8am Thursday.

MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane says rain around the North Island will form into a low-pressure system on Thursday.

“The direction of the flow means that its all onshore flow, so that’s pushing in a lot of moisture, and then we’ll see some rainfall from that as well,” she said.

“So, Thursday we see that onshore flow, cloudy conditions, rainy conditions, and then we’ve got that heavy rain watch in place [for Wairoa].”

Makgabutlane said with a lot of the western North Island being “very, very dry at the moment”, Wairoa is one of the few places in the country that has had decent rainfall this year.

“The soils out there are in a very different position compared to other parts of the country.

“With this rain ... falling on top of that, it is definitely something to keep an eye on for people out there.

“If people can make preparations ahead of time, it’s always good to be safe than sorry.”

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region.