Hawke’s Bay breaks wind and rainfall records in 2023, including one that had stood for 144 years

A Napier rainfall record that had stood for 144 years has been broken by the smallest of late December downpours.

The National Institute Of Water & Atmospheric Research (Niwa) released its 2023 Annual Climate Summary on Wednesday.

That summary covers the entire country and tells a story of near-relentless rain events for much of the East Coast including Cyclone Gabrielle and ex-tropical Cyclone Hale.

The report shows Napier recorded its highest-ever annual rainfall in 2023 since Niwa records began in 1870, with 1363mm of rain, or 173 per cent of normal, falling at Niwa’s Hawke’s Bay Airport station.

It narrowly beats the previous Napier record of 1349.6mm, set 144 years ago in 1879, by just under 14mm of rain.

Rainfall was well above normal (>149 per cent of annual normal) for Hawke’s Bay in 2023 and Hawke’s Bay was one of the regions that received at least 400 per cent of normal January and February rainfall.

The highest daily rainfall total from regularly reporting Niwa gauges excluding high elevation stations across the entire country in 2023 was 561mm at Tareha, near the Esk River, on February 13.

Tūtira had the third highest rainfall recorded in that category nationally, with 316mm at Hurford Rd on February 13.

Hawke’s Bay Today earlier reported a farm in Waiwhare, Hawke’s Bay, independently recorded 730mm of rainfall during Cyclone Gabrielle, which at its peak unleashed 250mm of rain an hour into its rainfall gauge.

Of that, 643.6mm reportedly fell over 24 hours on February 14.

Tūtira, Hastings, Napier, Whakatu and Waipawa all recorded their highest-ever one-day February rainfall, due to Cyclone Gabrielle.

Waipawa had a record-high extreme one-day rainfall total of 117mm on February 13, the highest since records began in 1945.

There were other weather events that broken records in the region as well in 2023.

The highest confirmed wind gust for 2023 in New Zealand was 246 km/h recorded at Cape Turnagain, in the Tararua District, on September 17.

Mahia had its strongest wind gust since records began in 1991, at 96 kilometres per hour recorded on March 29.

Wairoa recorded a maximum temperature of 29.6 degrees Celsius, the North Island’s highest September temperature on record.

The North Island’s previous highest September temperature was 27.7C, recorded in Hastings in 1955, and Waikaremoana in 1975.

Niwa graphic showing accumulated rainfall over the East Coast of the North Island in the days following Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Niwa

Overall, 2023 was Aotearoa’s second warmest year on record, just shy of the record set in 2022.

New Zealand’s three warmest years on record have all occurred in the last three years.

Napier had its second-highest mean annual temperature, 15.7C, since records began in 1870.

The country as a whole was a long way from its wettest year on record, despite the weather events of the previous summer.

The nationwide average rainfall for 2023 was 104 per cent, only the 21st highest on record since Niwa began analysis on that metric in 1961.

“Several climate drivers came together to produce an exceptional year of weather in New Zealand. One major climate driver of 2023 was the transition from a La Niña to an El Niño,” the Niwa annual summary said.

The Annual Climate Summary gives an overview of the severe weather events across the country, including several that severely impacted Hawke’s Bay.

Cyclone Hale impacted the north and the east coast of the North Island from January 10-11.

Cyclone Gabrielle arrived in Hawke’s Bay overnight shortly after, between February 13 and February 14.

On June 22, prolonged heavy rain also brought areas of surface flooding and caused many slips in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay.

Several State Highways were closed, including SH2 between Wairoa to Napier and SH5 from Taupō to Eskdale.

A total of 73 local roads were closed or significantly obstructed by slips.

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz