Dry Hawke’s Bay Christmas still possible after thunderstorm

Dark thunderclouds closing in over Ahuriri, Napier, on Tuesday afternoon. Photo / Paul Taylor

There’s still hope that Hawke’s Bay will boast a dry Christmas Day.

However, the week leading up to the most wonderful time of the year will see a smattering of showers across the region.

MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were all expected to have relatively dry but cloudy mornings and showers mainly about the ranges in the afternoons.

He said Christmas morning on Sunday was expected to be less cloudy and cooler before potential showers again.

“It does look like they will be moreso just on the ranges, so where a lot of the people live they might get a dry afternoon of Christmas - it might just be a little bit more cloudy.”

He said temperatures in Napier would be relatively representative of the region, with a high of 22C on Wednesday, 23C on Thursday, 25C on Friday and temperatures around the mid-20s over the weekend.

“Christmas Day is looking like [it will have] a high of 24 degrees, just with that risk of afternoon showers about those Hawke’s Bay ranges.”

He said the worst weather was pegged for overnight Tuesday, as intense rain and thunder were expected to hit from Tuesday afternoon.

MetService issued a heavy rain warning for Hawke’s Bay, south of Napier, about 9.20am on Tuesday.

The warning extended for 12 hours, from 2pm on Tuesday to 2am on Wednesday.

MetService said 70 - 100 millimetres of rain should be expected, particularly inland, but 150mm was possible in localised areas.

There will be peak rates of 15 - 25 mm per hour, and localised downpours of 25 - 40 mm per hour are possible.

The Christmas Road Trip street corner concerts scheduled for Tuesday evening in Waipawa were cancelled due to the rain.