Travellers warned of saturated roads as strong wind and heavy rain hits Hawke's Bay

Mist hanging over Pahuratahi Road, Whirinaki, early on Tuesday. MetService Meteorologist Amy Rossiter said travellers should be prepared for saturated roads. Photo / Warren Buckland

Those planning travel for the school holidays should beware of heavy rain and strong winds leaving saturated roads in Hawke's Bay this week.

Hawke's Bay is in the midst of two simultaneous MetService watches, a Heavy Rain Watch from 9am to 4pm Tuesday and a Strong Wind Watch from 10am Tuesday to 2pm Wednesday.

MetService Meteorologist Amy Rossiter said on Tuesday morning that 34mm of rainfall had been recorded in Napier and 31.2mm in Hastings in the last 24 hours.

By far the worst of the rainfall had hit the ranges as MetService had predicted, with 106mm falling in 24 hours.

She said the rainfall dropped off at the coastal parts of the region, but the largest gusts of wind so far had been seen in exposed areas like Cape Kidnappers and Mahia.

Mahia had gusts of 122km/h, while Napier had relatively more moderate wind gusts of 43km/h.

"The front is sinking south over the North Island this morning, so rain will continue to persist throughout Hawke's Bay through into the evening."

She said they expected the front to come through in the early hours of the evening on Tuesday, about 5pm to 7pm.

"Once it turns a bit more westerly behind the front the rain will ease."

She said Hawke's Bay might still get gusty westerlies and the odd shower, but the region was mostly sheltered and there wouldn't be anything too bad.

"You'll get a brief calm period on Thursday before another low approaches from the north on Friday which will bring in some more rain."

A roadside rest stop in Whirinaki. MetService expects a calmer Wednesday and Thursday before more rain hits Hawke's Bay on Friday. Photo / Warren Buckland

She said it appeared at this stage that the second bout of rain starting Friday will not reach warning criteria, but it will be something to keep an eye on.

"Considering how much rain you are probably going to get in this 24-hour period, the ground will already be quite saturated, so any sort of further rain on top of that could exacerbate things a bit."

She said people planning travel during the school holidays should plan in extra time to accommodate forecasts.

"Heavy rain and strong winds can make driving quite dangerous and can disrupt travel with road closures and flooding and that, so it is best to allow extra time."

She said a maximum of 17C was forecast in Napier and 16C for Hastings on Tuesday.

Napier is forecast to reach 20C when the weather clears up on Wednesday, while Hastings is not far behind on 19C.

She said the region was seeing slightly warmer than average temperatures.

"This low is bringing in some quite warm air from the tropics, so it's not your typical sort of cold winter low. The air associated with it is quite warm, which is why there is a bit more rain because it can hold more moisture."