More rain for Hawke's Bay after 'cold pool' soaks region

Heavy afternoon downpours in Hawke's Bay are expected to be repeated again today, MetService says.

Yesterday Napier saw 12.4mm fall in Napier over the day, most of it in the late afternoon when dark clouds closed in over the city. Hastings, while it was the nation's third warmest spot, hitting a daytime high of 18C, also saw heavy afternoon rain.

"A little bit of rain was recorded in Napier from about 1pm but the most recorded in one hour was between 3pm and 4pm with about 4.2mm," MetService Meteorologist Claire Flynn said.

"Hastings had a similar thing, with the rain starting about midday and then on and off throughout the afternoon and evening, and the hour where most rain fell was between 2pm and 3pm with 2.4mm."

Flynn said the reason for the rain was a "cold pool" with cold air sitting high in the atmosphere.

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"What does is make the atmosphere unstable, which means that you can get showers.

"Today it will be a similar story to yesterday. It will start off quite nice and then this afternoon as it heats up we will start to get some showers around the region. Most of them will be around the ranges, along with possible thunderstorms."

More rain could be expected on Thursday with the arrival of a low pressure system, with Friday clearing before scattered rain returns on Saturday.

"So, there's a fair bit of rain around this week, at this stage, Friday doesn't look too bad."