Metservice meteorologist John Law says Hawke’s Bay has managed to dodge the wet weather lashing the rest of the country.

Law said the region was on the “right side of the country for better weather this weekend,” with only showers predicted.

Intense bands of rain travelled over Northland on Thursday night, bringing with them higher river levels and power outages, with some parts of the country under weather warnings.

“All the weather is coming in from the west this time, which means you have got the protection of the hills and the ranges, which keep the worst of the weather away from you.”

Law said Saturday’s weather was expected to reach a high of 26C with showers in parts of Hawke’s Bay in the afternoon and slightly more blustery conditions.

“It’s not going to be the heavy stuff we have been seeing in other parts of the country.”

He said 26C was a high temperature for this time of year, and typically the average sat at 19C with an exception in 2016 when an April temperature reached 28.2C in Napier.

Sunday was expected to have a daytime high of 24C, and a higher chance of rain showers.

Law said there could be some impact from larger swells around Mahia and Cape Kidnappers across the weekend.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council was monitoring the closed Nuhaka River mouth due to high sea swells on Thursday.

On Friday at 3.15pm a spokesperson said work had begun on-site at midday, with a plan to open the river mouth by low tide at 5pm.

“The current river level is well below normal levels for river mouth openings. We are opening the river mouth as a precautionary measure and don’t have any concerns for the community.”

The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s air quality scientist, Jeremy Kidd, said March had brought about a pleasant start to autumn.

“The region’s rainfall was within the normal range, but only just. Most areas received around 60% to 70% of the average for March, but higher totals in the north brought up the region-wide average.”

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.