Editorial: Weather, do we like it or not?

The hot topic of conversation these days is the weather, if you will excuse the pun.

People love talking about the weather at the best of times and we certainly seem to be going through that at the moment.

We are in May, for goodness' sake, and still experiencing weather that in any other year we would have been happy with in February or March.

On the nightly television weather, Hawke's Bay centres have been invariably at the top for the last little while.

However, the glorious weather does also take its toll on the land. Having recently moved out into the country, I have become very aware of that precious commodity - water - and apart from a drizzle here and there, we have not had much rain.

A mere 0.8mm has been recorded this month at the Napier recording station at Hawke's Bay Airport, while 1.2mm has been recorded in Hastings - with May averages normally about 65mm.

That is not good news for water tanks or plants and trees thirsting for moisture. It has also heightened the risk of grass fires - once again normally unheard of at this time of the year. Thankfully our fire services have been quick to dampen down any fires that spring up.

The good news is that rain is on the way.

Apparently we will get a few drops today and overnight but should be in for a decent downpour later in the week and during the weekend.

It will be a welcome relief for our dry land.

But who knows, the warm weather may be back. The way things are going we are in for a very mild winter.

Or maybe not.