Winter bites: Hawke's Bay boasts year's coldest temps

A solo paddler braves the chill factor in Napier on Monday. Photo Warren Buckland

By Thomas Airey

With the winter solstice and the shortest day upon us, Hawke's Bay is experiencing temperatures as cold as they have been all year.

After a relatively tropical start to June featuring temperatures over 20 degrees Celsius on the 1st and 8th, MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan said the weather has taken a turn this week.

"Those southeasterlies are really biting... the wind chill factor especially is making it feel quite a bit colder than the air temperature would suggest," he said.

On Sunday, the maximum temperature in Napier was 11.3 degrees and Monday's highest was 10.4 as of the early afternoon.

The previous coldest day of the year was 12.1 degrees on May 26.

Corrigan said Hastings' temperature briefly reached 11 degrees on Sunday and they appear to be having their coldest days of the year as well.

"It's definitely a taste of winter," he said.

June 21 is the shortest day of the year due to the solstice and the South Pole being tilted its furthest from the sun.

"This time of year with the shorter days and the lower sun angles, there's less time for solar radiation to really heat things up during the day," Corrigan said.

He said the heavy cloud cover is limiting that even more, with cloudy, showery weather and southeasterly winds set to continue through the week:

"It's a bit dreary, a bit wintery, and quite cold in Hawke's Bay going forward."

That cloud cover should break up a bit more during the day on Thursday, Corrigan said.

"For keen stargazers wanting to see Matariki rising before dawn on Friday, it looks like the skies will have cleared by then."