Long heavy rain watch in place for Hawke’s Bay, heaviest falls could coincide with Rod Stewart concert

Pack your ponchos for a wet weekend ahead. Photo / Paul Taylor

One long weekend, one long heavy rain watch for Hawke’s Bay.

The MetService watch, one step down from an orange warning, is in place for 39 hours, from noon on Friday to 3am on Sunday.

Tourists be warned, pack a poncho, and probably your gumboots if you’re coming to the region, which is still in some places recovering from flooding from Cyclone Gabrielle.

Rod Stewart is jetting his way to Hawke’s Bay for a packed Mission Concert on Saturday night, but MetService says, at this stage, that Saturday night is smack bang in the middle of the 12 hours when it expects the most rain to fall.

However, it said, there is a great deal of uncertainty with the timing and intensity of the heaviest rain.

Both Friday and Saturday are forecast to be rainy, with showers easing on Sunday, but by Monday the sun expected to come out.

MetService Meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane confirmed that a subtropical low-pressure system would be approaching the country over the next couple of days, bringing with it varying degrees of rainfall across the region.

“At this point we are expecting this system to bring rain to the area. The first and most important thing to note is that it won’t be as much as we have seen [during Cyclone Gabrielle].”

She said the rain could still have some possible impact on the area, due to some of the current ground and soil conditions.

“We’re advising people just to keep up to date with any information coming out of MetService in terms of any watches or warnings.

“Prepare if possible, for any of the rain that’s on the way.”

Temperatures in Napier look to range from 14C to 26C throughout the weekend, with Monday forecast as the warmest day.