Weather: Summer won’t feel like it’s over in Hawke’s Bay, with a warm start to March coming

Despite the meteorological summer coming to an end, Hawke’s Bay is in for a warm start to autumn, with 30C temperatures forecast for some on Monday.

MetService meteorologist Alec Holden said while, meteorologically speaking, the summer ends on Friday, February 28, the region would see warm weather right into the middle of next week.

“For us here in New Zealand, our nice warm summery conditions aren’t nicely aligned with the months as they are in other parts of the world.”

The meteorological end to summer has not put an end to warm temperature in Hawke's Bay just yet. Photo / Michael Craig

Holden said the region and its residents would seesome “very summer conditions” over the weekend, with Saturday expected to reach 27C in Hastings and 25C in Napier.

“It’s set to get quite nice in Hawke’s Bay area, and in fact may be the place to be in the country over the weekend.”

The weather was expected to be perfect for participants heading to Wellington on scooters for the Jolly Good Chaps ride on Saturday.

Concertgoers heading along to Fat Freddy’s Drop at the Black Barn Vineyards and visitors to the 2025 International Cultures Day would also be able to make the most of the warm and dry weather on Saturday.

Holden said there would also “barely be a cloud in the sky” on Sunday, with temperatures in Hastings set to reach 28C and Napier a slightly cooler 25C.

Monday is expected to start the week off with a high of 30C in Hastings and 28C in Napier.

“Monday is when the temperatures jump up for everybody.”

Holden said night temperatures were expected to remain comfortable and range between 13C and 16C.

“They don’t fluctuate much over the coming week.”

A taste of autumn weather was expected to reach the region by Wednesday, right after Horse of the Year begins on Tuesday, as a cold front moves in dropping temperatures to about 19C.

“It does bring a cool change with it.”

Holden said the front would bring rain, however it was not expected to linger.

“It does look like it will bring a decent helping of rain, but it also looks like it does not last particularly long.”

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.