Clouds brood near Napier's coast as seen from Flat Rock north of Tangoio around noon Wednesday. Photo / Jack Tait via Hawke's Bay Photographs
Clouds brood near Napier's coast as seen from Flat Rock north of Tangoio around noon Wednesday. Photo / Jack Tait via Hawke's Bay Photographs
A dollop of wet gold from the sky it might have been, but the farmers who need it most say the rain that hit Hawke's Bay on Tuesday won't make a jot of difference.
Spectacular frontal cloud brushed the Napier coastline around midday and rain fell for decent periods inNapier and Hastings on Wednesday morning.
But farmers say that on the whole it was too sporadic to delay or break a fast-approaching drought.
A MetService spokesman said Napier airport recorded 7.6mm of rain, Hastings 12.2mm, Wairoa and Waipawa both 8.6mm during the day.
Te Haroto got the most rain with a substantial 40.6mm, and there was a chance of thunderstorms in northern Hawke's Bay late on Wednesday bringing 25-40mm of rain to an area that's already the wettest in the region.
Rainfall figures for February were under 20 per cent of the historic average for the month at almost all of the Hawke's Bay Regional Council's recording stations from Te Pohue and Tangoio to Southern Hawke's Bay.
It's highlighted dramatically on the rainfall map, almost all red for most areas south of Wairoa, which principal scientist air Dr Kathleen Kozyniak said has been unparalleled in the past 10 years.
Drought discussions stepped up on Wednesday with Federated Farmers provincial president Jim Galloway revealing a morning phone conference among farmer, government and relief organisation representatives was expected to consider whether to declare at least a medium-scale drought situation, triggering relief to help farmers overcome their plight.
The Tukituki river bed during a dry summer spell. Photo / Paul Taylor
On the land it's notably dry in such places as the Pakipaki area, where just 3.5mm of rain was recorded at the Awanui station in February, compared with its February average of 42mm. Just 21mm had been recorded at the station in January and February, compared with the average of 76mm for the first two months of the year.
At Mangaorapa, near Porangahau, the 3.5mm last month compared with a February average of 77mm, while of the towns, Waipukurau recorded 3.2, or just 6 per cent of its February average.
Northwest of Napier there was just 3mm of rain at Glengarry in February, which compares with the gauge's February average of 82mm.
All of Hawke's Bay has a rain deficit of at least 30mm, with northern areas in deficit of more than 50mm.
The impact is becoming profound, with meat processors Alliance cutting its kill at its Dannevirke plant from five to four days a week for the next fortnight because of water restrictions in the town.
Another meeting on Wednesday was expected to consider the geographical extent of the dry, with most of the North Island from Waikato and Bay of Plenty to southern Wairarapa all suffering water shortages.
Elwood Park getting watered as the showers arrive on Wednesday. Photo / Warren Buckland
Galloway said the meatworks cutback exacerbated problems for farmers already facing delays getting their stock accepted for slaughter. He knew of one still waiting after nine weeks, and few seemed to be able to get their stock into the works within a fortnight.
He said big problems were being experienced with the drying-up of streams and dams, particularly "under the ranges" — the foothills of the Ruahine and Kaweka ranges and western extremes of the Heretaunga and Ruataniwha plains.
When asked if the rain on Wednesday would help at all Galloway said it was better than nothing and will "definitely brighten things up a bit".
"The worst thing is if we get a bit of rain now then no more for the next six weeks, any grass growth which has happened will then die off again. The follow-up rain is really important," he said.
"Generally unless you get 20-30mm [of rain] followed by another lot of 20-30mm a week later [it doesn't have much effect as] just a one short downpour washes off and doesn't soak in," he said.
Fruit growers were relatively happy with the rain. Gareth Hope from Peckish Ltd said the rain "will help" and would likely ensure "better fruit size".
Kozyniak said no more rain was likely before the middle of next week, after the March 6-8 anniversary of Cyclone Bola which brought rainfall of over 700mm to some areas in 1988, causing widespread erosion following what had been another particularly dry period.
"It has been a really dry February, not so bad for Northern Hawke's Bay, but certainly for the Ruahines and the likes of Glengarry and the Heretaunga Plains," she said.
Cyclones tended to follow a "pulse" around the equator on a 30-60 days cycle, she said, but nothing of the sort that would bring significant rainfall is on the horizon.
"It's quiet at the moment. The pulse is very weak."
