Red sky in the morning, winter forms: Wind watch for start of long weekend in Hawke’s Bay

There were red skies over Napier with a series of spectacular sunrises this week. Photo / Claire Traill

Strong winds possibly reaching gale force are being forecast for the early stages of the King’s Birthday weekend in parts of Hawke’s Bay.

After a week of spectacular sunrises, there are grey skies and a “strong wind watch” notice has been issued by MetService for the 30 hours from midday on Friday to 6pm on Saturday.

The area covered by the notice is inland of Napier to the Tararua district south of Woodville, with MetService saying an update would be issued on Thursday night.

Strongest winds were being forecast for Saturday and there was a possibility of the notice being upgraded to a “warning”, with possible damage to trees, powerlines, and unsecured structures, and difficult driving conditions especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles.

In a general forecast for the Hawke’s Bay region, which has had some varying weather in June in recent years, MetService was expecting showers on Friday clearing in the morning with fresh westerlies developing to be strong but easing on Saturday and remaining through the weekend.

Market days will dominate the weekend starting with the Napier Urban Market in Clive Square on Saturday.

On Sunday, the Ōtāne Village Artisan Market in Central Hawke’s Bay, the Hawke’s Bay Farmers Market at Tomoana Showgrounds in Hastings, and the Napier Sunday Market in the Marine Parade carpark between Oceans Spa and the port gates, will be held from 9am, with the Te Awanga Market starting at 3pm.

With some local sports taking a holiday weekend break, major events on the parks will see Napier City Rovers starting their 2025 Chatham Cup football path with a round two match against Wellington Phoenix Reserves at Bluewater Stadium, Napier, on Sunday, starting at 1pm.

In rugby, Central Hawke’s Bay Sub-Union are playing their annual Stu Smith Memorial Cup match against Heartland Championship union Wairarapa Bush at Tikokino on Monday at 1.30pm.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.