Scorching weather to stay as summer ends

Astin Jones, 8, Taradale, has his eye on the ball as he plays Superstar Cricket with other children at an after-school cricket programme run by Taradale Cricket Club, at Taradale Park, Napier, in cloudy, warm weather yesterday afternoon. Photo / Duncan Brown

The sun will continue to shine as we farewell summer.

Temperatures soared as high as 28C in Napier on Sunday as people sheltered under parasols at the Tremains Art Deco Festival.

MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray said the pattern of balmy weather will continue this week and today will kick off a series of scorching temperatures with a high of 29C.

"There is a small chance of a light afternoon shower but it shouldn't be anything too substantial."

Wednesday will see a slight drop down to 26C and some thick cloud overhead as a north-westerly rolls across the region. Thursday and Friday will both reach the 30Cs.

Ms Murray said that a band of tropical air over the region was responsible for the warm weather.

"People may struggle to sleep on Friday with an overnight low of 20C."

The weekend will again be sweltering before the rain arrives late Sunday afternoon - just in time for the Simply Red Concert at Mission Estate.

The south-easterly shift will bring showers to signify the end of summer, she said.

The first week of March is set to be a wet one.

Federated Farmers provincial president Will Foley said Hawke's Bay farms have dried out to normal February conditions expected at this time of year.

"Everyone should be comfortable with feed levels and very relieved El Nino conditions haven't occurred so far."

Mr Foley said that the relatively kind conditions for the past few months have gone some way to offset the negative sentiment around low dairy and lamb prices.

Tropical Cyclone Winston, which has left a trail of destruction in Fiji, is beginning to track south towards New Zealand.

The category four storm has killed at least 20 people and produced winds as strong as 296km/h.

Ms Murray said the cyclone could bring strong gusts to the region this weekend with the potential to cause structural damage.

However there was still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the storm. "We will be keeping a very close eye, and will send out warnings accordingly," she said.