Hawke’s Bay isn’t yet out of the firing line of wild spring winds that caused damage across the region on Tuesday.
MetService has issued a strong wind watch for the region from 10am to 10pm Thursday, warning northwest winds may approach severe gales in exposed places, with a moderate chance the watch would be upgraded to a warning.
MetService meteorologist Michael Pawley said the region is “definitely” going to see the northwesterly winds pick up again.
“You’re looking at getting some strong winds.”
Pawley said some of Hawke’s Bay would see some respite on Wednesday, but there was still a bit of wind around Central Hawke’s Bay and Dannevirke feeding fires in Pōrangahau.
Residents of five homes evacuated in Pōrangahau overnight as four vegetation fires continued to burn.
Several vegetation fires were reported across Hawke’s Bay on Tuesday, caused by strong winds and high temperatures.
“We are seeing some elevated winds today, which is not great news for controlling that fire, and certainly they will be picking up again tomorrow,” Pawley said.
“We are seeing larger pressure gradients across the country. So there is a chance that some areas could see more impacts than on Tuesday, and Tuesday was a big day.”
Along with the strong winds, high temperatures are forecast for Thursday, with 29C predicted in Hastings and 28C in Napier.
On Tuesday, MetService recorded wind gusts of 72km/h at Napier Airport at 3pm. Gusts of 130km/h were recorded on the Takapau Plains about 4pm, and gusts of 126km/h were recorded at Cape Kidnappers. As is normal, Cape Turnagain had the largest gust of the day, a massive 181km/h.
In Central Hawke’s Bay, 28 roads in the area were partially or fully closed because of trees falling on Tuesday. Just one remained closed on Wednesday.
Central Hawke’s Bay District Council local controller, strategic and planning Dylan Muggeridge said council roading crews were prioritising roads in the Pōrangahau and Blackhead areas to support the Fire and Emergency NZ response to the fires.
A Hastings District Council spokesperson said several calls came to their roading team on Tuesday but all roads were open, although crews were still cleaning up some sites.
Strong winds also made approaches difficult at Hawke’s Bay Airport.
Flight tracking data showed Air New Zealand flight NZ5023 from Auckland to Napier circling off the coast for an extended period before landing about 38 minutes behind schedule on Tuesday night, as strong winds made approaches difficult across Hawke’s Bay.
An Air NZ spokeswoman said about seven flights in and out of Napier were cancelled on Tuesday due to the weather.
Havelock North’s Christina Keeling was among the passengers affected.
She was on flight NZ5009 from Auckland to Napier, which was forced to turn back.
“The pilots said they were hoping that we would be able to land but it was definitely too windy,” Keeling told Hawke’s Bay Today.
“It was the most turbulence I’ve had in a long time.”
Keeling landed back in Auckland at 2.39pm and, with no seats available to Napier for the rest of the day, had to stay overnight.
As the disruption was caused by weather, and out of Air New Zealand’s control, the company considers accommodation costs to fall under travellers’ own insurance.
Meanwhile, on highways in the region, State Highway 50 between Ongaonga and Maraekakaho closed at 3pm on Tuesday because of fallen trees and reopened at 11.30am on Wednesday.
A truck that overturned on Tuesday was scheduled to be recovered while the road was closed, while a damaged guardrail was expected to be repaired within the next few days.
Workers would also on Wednesday be near Takapau removing a truck that rolled on State Highway 2 on Tuesday.
There would be stop/go traffic management between 7pm and 10pm near the intersection with Snee Rd after the truck was blown off the road and rolled onto its side.
Crews would begin recovery of the truck from 8pm and motorists should expect delays of 30 minutes as a result.