Rainfall in Napier on Monday was among the highest the region has seen. Photo / Warren Buckland
Rainfall in Napier on Monday was among the highest the region has seen. Photo / Warren Buckland
The 24 hours to 9am on Monday were officially the wettest on record in Napier since the infamous November 2020 flood.
MetService has been collecting detailed rainfall data from its weather station at Hawke's Bay Airport in Napier since 1950 - with data recorded daily at 9am.
MetService confirmed 95.4mm of rain fell between 9am on Sunday and 9am on Monday.
It was the second wettest February day on record and the wettest day in Napier since November 9/10, 2020 (120mm of rain recorded at the airport) - which saw much of Napier city flooded and caused millions of dollars in damage. Rainfall measured in other parts of the city was even higher for that flooding event.
Monday's deluge also marked the highest rainfall for a February day since February 2/3, 1967, when 106.2mm of rain saturated the region.
Two flights were cancelled on Monday during heavy rainfall and fog - including one flight which had to turn back to Auckland - and the Covid testing site at Westshore also had to pack up early.
The creek at Marewa on Monday. Photo / Warren Buckland
However, fire services have not reported any serious flooding emergencies in Hawke's Bay this week.
MetService meteorologist Peter Little said the rain in the past few days was largely caused by "a very humid air mass over the country".
"Humid air has the potential to hold a lot more rainfall," he said.
"We have also had a very slow-moving front embedded in that humid air mass ... and that has helped to release all of this extreme rainfall across much of central and northern New Zealand."
MetService is predicting a break from the rain on Wednesday and Thursday, with wet weather again this weekend in Hawke's Bay.
He said there would also be humid and high temperatures in Hawke's Bay towards the end of the week, particularly on Thursday and Friday.
"It will be another kind of frizzy hair week."
He said for farmers and those who operate tank water, this rain was fantastic.
Napier's highest rainfall on record was June 3/4, 1963, which saw 297.2mm of rain.
MetService recorded a further 60mm of rain for the 24-hour period to 9am on Tuesday in Napier.
The heavy rain averted an almost certain move into a closed fire season in Hawke's Bay.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand Hawke's Bay region adviser risk reduction Clayton Locke said the move was being considered after the extension last week of a "restricted" fire season notice to all of the region, except the urban area of a Napier, Hastings and Wairoa.
The experts meet each Monday to discuss the fire risks across the region in summer, and Locke said: "We probably would have been looking at a total ban, for Central Hawke's Bay at least. But there was over 100mm of rain across most the weather stations we monitor."
Further rain forecast could bring about the possibility of not having to impose a closed fire season this summer, although he said: "That's a bit early to call."
While the fine fire fuels of grass and pine needles were damp, harder fuels such as branches and logs remained dry.
He emphasised that permits are still required for the lighting of fires.
