The leaves they are a fallin': Autumnal chill hits Hawke's Bay

Fallen leaves in Chambers St, Napier, near Napier Boy's High School. Photo/Warren Buckland

The temperatures in Hawke's Bay may have dropped, but it's seasonal, highlighted by masses of leaves building up in city streets, parks and elsewhere in the region.

According to MetService the maximum temperature in the Napier-Hastings area today was 15.4 degrees Celsius, down from 19.7C on Monday and over 21C on Sunday. The minimum since the weekend was just under 9C, marginally lower than other minimums during and since the weekend.

Temperatures were expected to rise again back to highs of about 22C on Saturday.
Average April temperatures in Hastings range between 19C and 10C, while the May average is from 17C to 7C.

Meanwhile rainfall throughout most of Hawke's Bay last month was mainly below April averages, according to monthly summary released today by Council principal scientist Dr Kathleen Kozyniak.

She said rainfall was "within the normal range for the region" but it wasn't evenly spread.

"Northern Hawke's Bay had plenty while rain across the Heretaunga Plains, Kaweka Range and Tangoio were below normal for the month," she said.

It was also below average in most of Central and Southern Hawke's Bay.

The heaviest April rainfall, as it is often, was at the Pukeorapa station inland from Nuhaka, where there were 456.5mm, more than 80 per cent above its April average of 252mm.

The lightest in the region network was 36mm at Crownthorpe, just over half the station's historic April average.

Large amounts of autumn leaves have cluttered mainly suburban streets in Napier and Hastings over the last few days, posing a risk to drainage if there were significant rain, but online forecasts today showed no hint of rain over the next 10 days.