Temperatures of up to 33C took their toll on athletes at the opening of the North Island Colgate Games in Hastings yesterday, making extra hydration and finding shade priorities.
St John ambulance staff based at the Regional Sports Park saw 27 patients throughout the day, most of whom were suffering from
heat exhaustion.
"There have been a few who took the heat badly in the longer distance runs and have fallen on the track," said Trish Little, organising committee member and Hastings team manager.
"We have just been giving them plenty of fluid and keeping them in the shade."
Meanwhile, if you feel like you've been in a summer meltdown under a sizzling Hawke's Bay sun, you have good reason.
Even the lows have been high.
La Nina weather system's easterly anti-cyclones meant a record-breaking December for many areas of New Zealand.
On December 22, Napier's overnight temperature hit a toasty "low" of 22.4C, the highest since records began in 1940.
On that same hot and humid night, Hastings posted its equal highest (since 1972) minimum of 21.1C while Wairoa recorded its second highest minimum (also since 1972) of 21.9.
The Napier figure topped the country for the warmest minimum temperature of December.
The city also figured in the top eight centres on the extreme wind list after the month was seen out by severe gales and storms which sparked up on the 28th. Trees lost limbs and cafes saw umbrellas tumble.
The strongest gust was recorded in Napier by the National Climate Centre on that day, and it reached 91km/h, the equal third-highest on record.
While temperatures for December were above average, sunshine totals were generally down, as accompanying the heat were easterly and northeasterly driven cloud covers.
Hastings topped the Bay's temperature table for the month with 32C on the 27th, the equal third-highest December reading since 1965.
Wairoa was the Bay's driest spot with just 19mm of the wet stuff, the third-lowest for the month since 1964.
Colgate Games, p2
