Heavy skies over Awatoto, a harbinger of things to come for the Bay this week. Photo / Paul Taylor
The Bay is set for a wet and windy week.
As a slow moving front gradually moves across the North Island, persistent rain will fall on the region.
MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray warns conditions could take a turn for the worse heading into the weekend.
"You won't receive massive amounts of heavy dumps but it will be consistent," Ms Murray said.
Napier has seen 8mm in the last 24 hours while Hastings got 10mm.
A southerly change later today will bring more showers and cloud cover.
Tomorrow and Thursday will be cold and wet with a high of just 15C forecast and steady rainfall.
However, Ms Murray said most of the showers would occur out east.
She said the trend of the El Nino weather pattern was for lower than usual temperatures but with a northerly change on Thursday would see things pick back up.
Temperatures will plummet to single digits overnight tonight and tomorrow.
Friday should be a fine day with a 22C high forecast.
However, the northerly change will bring strong northwesterly winds which may reach gale force on Saturday.
"There is a decent front tracking across the country which should reach Hawke's Bay in time for the weekend."
Ms Murray advised locals to keep an eye on the MetService website as weather warnings may be issued.
Federated Farmers provincial president Will Foley said the rain was a welcome sight for farmers albeit an unexpected one.
"With the El Nino dry that was expected farmers are experiencing awesome growth conditions."
He said the rain was not nearly heavy enough to cause any damage or concern.
"The regular rain allows farmers to keep topping up and have a surplus of feed heading into the summer."
Hawke's Bay hosts Christmas lunches for those seeking company and support.