• MetService has issued a heavy rain watch for Wairoa District from noon to 11pm Saturday.
• Forecaster Gerard Bellam warns of rain driven by a strong southerly flow and moist air.
• A wet and cold weekend is expected across Hawke’s Bay into next week due to southerly winds.

MetService has issued a heavy rain watch for the Wairoa District for Saturday from noon to 11pm.

MetService forecaster Gerard Bellam said he was sure the rain would not be welcome in Wairoa after a wet second half of December along the East Coast.

“We’ve got a broad low-pressure system passing the country and we do see an active cold front spread up the east of the country through the course of tomorrow, and behind that is quite a strong southerly flow coming through – which sort of drives the rain into that northern Hawke’s Bay-Wairoa District.”

Bellam expected the rainfall to be enhanced thanks to moist air being pushed up against the hills and ranges around Lake Waikaremoana.

The heavy rain watch has a moderate chance of being upgraded to a warning.

However, Wairoa won’t be the only damp place in the region with Bellam predicting a wet and cold weekend across the Hawke’s Bay region until Monday, thanks to southerly winds making their way up the country bringing cold temperatures into next week.

This watch marks the fifth watch or warning issued by MetService for Wairoa in less than a week.

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the past 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region, along with pieces on art, music and culture.