Pro Men's Park champion Jett Williams gets some massive air at the FRS New Zealand National Scooter Championship at Bay Skate on Sunday. Photo / Ian Cooper
Pro Men's Park champion Jett Williams gets some massive air at the FRS New Zealand National Scooter Championship at Bay Skate on Sunday. Photo / Ian Cooper
A belated Christmas present of a warm weekend sunshine couldn’t push Hawke’s Bay to its first 30C day in a year.
Waitangi weekend 2022 was the last time the temperature in the region passed 30C and the maximum temperature recorded by national weather agency MetService in Hawke’s Bay over the weekend was 29.2C at its Hastings station on Saturday.
It was (just) the hottest day of the summer, and came on the first anniversary of the last time it was over 30C in Hawke’s Bay, on February 3-4 last year.In January the previous summer Wairoa recorded a 36C high, and in February 2020 Napier recorded 37.4C, just a decimal point short of its record in modern history.
Play on the opening day of the National Over 60s cricket tournament in Napier on Sunday. Photo / Ian Cooper
Early on Sunday afternoon there was a minimal prospect of the 30C mark being exceeded, with the maximum in the region soon after midday being 28.4C at Wairoa, but near the forecast maximum of 29C.
In Hastings it was 27C, in Dannevirke and on the Takapau Plains near Waipukuraui it was 26C, and at Hawke’s Bay Airport north of Napier it was 24.6C.
The warmer temperatures over the weekend brought the crowds out to such events as the annual Dannevirke A&P Show, the national scooter championship event at Bay Skate, the weekly Farmers’ Market at Tomoana Showgrounds in Hastings, and the annual Warbirds over Awatoto model flying on the southern outskirts of Napier.
Splash Planet also saw massive crowds for its final weekend of operating before closing early for the season.
Warbirds over Awatoto drew a keen crowd in perfect flying conditions over the weekend. Photo / Ian Cooper
It was also good for cricket for some of New Zealand’s most veteran players, who on Sunday started the national Over 60s tournament in Napier, with two teams from each of the first-class cricket associations – Central Districts, Northern Districts, Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago, mainly at Nelson Park but also at Taradale Park.
The coast was also a popular attraction, with paddle-boarders out in numbers off Hardinge Rd, Ahuriri, in somewhat bluer water than has prevailed over much of the near two months of algal bloom off the shores of Napier.
Paddleboarders take advantage of some cleaner-looking and warmer Waitangi Day weekend conditions off Hardinge Rd, Ahuriri. Photo / Ian Cooper
Meanwhile, Napier’s unwelcomed reputation for putting on a bit of rain each time top cricket matches are in town takes a test on Waitangi Day, as Kane Williamson returns to McLean Park for a rare Ford Trophy outing against the Central Stags.
The forecast for Monday was for rain, clearing in the morning with fine breaks developing, with a possible afternoon or evening shower, northerlies, dying out in the afternoon.
