Winds may blow our fine days away

Paddleboarder lessons under way in fine weather at last, on Pandora Pond, Napier, yesterday. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hawke's Bay is shaping up to be the ideal place to spend the school holidays, while children in the rest of the country are poised to spend the first week of the break indoors.

After a few days of "pretty horrible" weather, Hawke's Bay is set to miss most of the extreme weather, with today starting "fine and frosty", Metservice meteorologist Tom Adams said.

MetService issued a severe weather warning yesterday for Fiordland, the ranges of Buller, northwest Nelson and Mount Taranaki.

Heavy rain in these areas could cause rivers and streams to rise, possibly resulting in surface flooding and slips.

Canterbury, Marlborough, Wellington and Wairarapa have also received windy weather warnings at a strength that could cause damage to trees and property.

The expected northwest gales may gust from 130 to 140 km/h.

Rain is predicted for tonight and tomorrow morning, but the sheltered nature of the Bay means this "shouldn't be a big issue".

Temperatures look set to hit 9C tonight and 6C tomorrow night.

Frosts may come back this weekend, with Saturday and Sunday overnight temperatures predicted to drop to about 3C. The biggest concern for Hawke's Bay residents will be wind.

Locally there is a possibility of severe gale in exposed places tonight and tomorrow morning, however, MetService has only a "low confidence" of this.

"[Hawke's Bay] is getting off a lot lighter than a lot of the country," Mr Adams said.