Bumper rainfall report for end of Hawke's Bay summer

Hawke's Bay Regional Council rainfall report for March 2018. Photo/Supplied.

The grass really was greener in Hawke's Bay this March with the monthly rainfall report showing the entire region surpassed the average amount of expected rainfall.

Figures in the Hawke's Bay Regional Council's latest rainfall report show Glengarry was the standout area, receiving more than 300 per cent of its average rainfall after the region was swamped with rain on the 30th anniversary of Cyclone Bola.

Heavy rain and thunder storms lashed Hawke's Bay on March 8, closing the Napier-Taupo highway and flooding the Eskdale area north of Napier.

The deluge bumped the region's monthly rainfall to 126 per cent of the average, while areas such as Tangoio clocked 160 per cent of the average rainfall.

There were just 32 lightning strikes, from cloud to ground, for the month.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council climate scientist Dr Kathleen Kozyniak said the weather feature meant a wet end to the summer.

"I think to a certain extent with those ex-tropical cyclones we missed out on the worst of those but there's just a general pattern of weather where they are having an influence, particularly in the northern areas which have got quite a bit of out the weather patterns in place."

While weather features had targeted specific areas no one in the region had gone without enough rainfall, Dr Kozyniak said.

"The main feature was that huge downpour which was reasonable isolated around the Glengarry/Eskdale area. That was the standout where they had about 300mm in 24 hours which is a lot for places here in Hawke's Bay."

The climate scientist said while summer was over the weather patterns were here to stay.

"The thing is that pattern is not changing. For the next three months ahead that pattern remains the same essentially. The weather will be similar, we're not expecting below average rainfall so either normal or above normal."

Federated Farmers Hawkes Bay president Will Foley said farmers were well-positioned for autumn as a result of the "kind summer".

"We've obviously come off a pretty good summer where most of the country stayed relatively green throughout the summer which is unusual for Hawke's Bay. We didn't have that very dry start which we quite often have so farmers are in a good position going into autumn."

Despite several downpours last month farmers still wanted more rain, he said.

"It was almost too much, a lot of that would have run off, and we haven't had much since so I'd say all that is on farmers' wish lists at the moment is a bit of rain to keep things moving while we've still got warm temperatures."

Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers Association president Lesley Wilson said growers had been happy with what was ideal harvesting weather this season.

"The weather we've been having at the moment is absolutely fantastic for harvesting. The fruit size is also a lot bigger this year and there's a lot more fruit on the trees so the growers are pretty happy with all of that."

Hawke's Bay Winegrowers deputy chairman Xan Harding said grape growers were in the final quarter of harvesting and enjoying settled weather.

He said reports from those affected by last month's deluge were that affected areas had dried out quickly and grapes were able to be harvested as usual.

"As ever there's individuals who have struggled a little bit with March weather but from a big picture point of view it was an early season, we had a good early start to the season with some challenges in the middle of it and the end of the season has been fantastic so it bodes well for some great wines out of Hawke's Bay."