Where'd Hawke's Bay's summer go? Week of showers thrills firefighters and farmers

Federated Farmers Hawke's Bay President Jim Galloway said the rain has been helpful for farmers in the dry summer. Photo / Warren Buckland

Welcome rain across Hawke's Bay has brought relief for farmers and firefighters, without dulling the enthusiasm of the organisers of major cricket events.

Heavy rain, thunder and lightning hit Hawke's Bay on Monday afternoon, to the delight of many.

Firefighters at the ongoing fire at Tangoio 27km north of Napier said it had made a big difference.

Hawke's Bay's Principal Rural Fire Officer Trevor Mitchell said it had "turned our fire into a nice mud pie" which had given firefighters an opportunity to walk across the burnt hectares and check for hot spots.

Hawke's Bay fire's assistant area manager Nigel Hall said there had been 31.6mm of rain at Tangoio.

While the rain has helped, firefighting efforts will continue as the fire is burning harvesting waste at a deep level, Mitchell said.

Hall said the rain had reduced the fire danger in most areas of Hawke's Bay but said once rain ceases, warm dry weather will swiftly return.

Hawke's Bay's week of rain has turned the fire in Tangoio into a "nice mud pie". Photo / Paul Taylor

"Once the warm weather arrives again, we will lose all the moisture from the rain.

"People shouldn't think just because it's not hot they can start lighting fires again because it will dry out very quickly," he said.

From 3pm Monday to 4am Tuesday, 27.8mm of rain was recorded in Hastings. At Wairoa airport 39mm of rain was recorded between 8pm Monday and 8am Tuesday.

Periods of rain were set to continue throughout the week in Hawke's Bay, a MetService spokeswoman said.

Temperatures will remain lower than normal due to persistent cloudy skies and south and south-easterly winds, only peaking at a high of 23C on Sunday.

Farmers have also welcomed the week of rain which has helped farms which are drying out in the hot summer.

Federated Farmers Hawke's Bay president Jim Galloway said the rain was having the biggest impact in areas such as Patoka and Crownthorpe.

Federated Farmers Hawke's Bay President Jim Galloway said the rain has been helpful for farmers in the dry summer. Photo / Warren Buckland

"For some of the farms out there it was just in time, it was starting to get really dry.

"They were well down on rainfall in those areas, so every little bit is essential," Galloway said.

Galloway said these areas further out had between 30 and 15mm of rain whereas further in areas such as Bridge Pa only had around 18mm.

Potential showers would not have an impact on the Black Clash event scheduled for Friday at McClean Park, a spokesperson said.

"A few showers won't stop the game. We have tough, seasoned cricketers and tough rugby players who will play in any conditions. A few passing showers certainly never hurt anyone and won't be raining on the Black Clash parade."

The rain has also had a slight impact on the Hawke's Bay Cricket Camps which have 38 teams playing in Hawke's Bay this week.

Some games have had to move to artificial pitches instead of grass and Monday's game was forced to finish early but other than that games have gone ahead.

"They came here to play cricket so that's what they're going to do," Hawke's Bay Cricket CEO Craig Findlay said. "The rain is a nuisance but so far all games have been playing."