Parched Hawke's Bay welcomes 100mm rain over the weekend but dampens Art Deco spirits

Rainfalls reaching just above 100mm graced Hawke's Bay this weekend.

Eagerly awaited rain fell heavily during the weekend bringing welcome relief to parched areas, especially for farmers and those relying on tank water.

But it wasn't ideal for those in feather boas and fur coats as umbrellas were needed for much of the Tremains Art Deco Festival.

Wind was a feature of the weekend, particularly evident in Napier where a tree branch blocked Douglas McLean Ave early yesterday.

MetService forecaster Tuporo Marsters said that for the past couple of days, the country had been stuck in a moist northeast flow caused by a high east of the Chatham Islands that refused to budge.

"A trough became slow moving over the North Island in this setup and caused heavy downpours from the Bay of Plenty to the Hawke's Bay region, with three-day totals being over 100mm."

As of yesterday morning at 10am, Napier had a downpour of 105.4mm, followed closely by Hastings at 94.6mm, since the beginning of Friday.

Saturday saw the most rain hit the region, with 54mm falling in Napier.

Showers were expected to continue overnight, until this morning, as showers retire inland through to the ranges by the afternoon.

Tomorrow and Wednesday are set to improve with cloudy periods and easterly breezes a feature of the two days.

On Thursday, a southerly change comes through bringing cloud and a few showers with it.

Temperatures throughout the week will remain in the mid to low 20s, with Thursday forecast to have a high of 24C in Hastings and Napier 1C behind.

Today and tomorrow will have a cool 22C in Hastings.

The weekend's downpour was the most rain the region has seen in the past four months.

For the three days from February 9, 37mm fell in Napier, not even coming close to this weekend's totals.