Winds up to 120km/h forecast for Hawke's Bay

A fallen tree in Mt Herbert Rd, Waipukurau, on Monday morning. Photo / Paul Taylor

A new strong wind warning has been issued for Hawke's Bay, which yesterday had escaped the storms which had ravaged several other parts of New Zealand, including Auckland and Wellington.

With sunny weather in the twin cities of Napier and Hastings mid-afternoon yesterday, and little sign of the winds previously forecast for the 30 hours to late Monday night, a new warning was in place for Tararua District and Hawke's Bay south of Hastings for gales today and tomorrow .

A warning issued by national weather agency MetService at about 9.30am yesterday for the 17 hours from 9am on Tuesday to 2am on Wednesday forecast westerly gales to be severe at times, with gusts reaching 120 km/h.

Meteorologists said strong wind gusts could damage trees, powerlines and unsecured structures, and make driving hazardous, especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles.

The warning, one of many for strong winds, heavy rain and snow issued for varying areas of the country since the weekend, said the strong winds should continue in the Hawke's Bay area through Wednesday morning, and the period of the warning could be extended.

Yesterday there had been gusts up to 100km/h at Mahia in the hour to 1pm, 90km/h on the Takapau Plains in Central Hawke's Bay up to 8am, and moderate winds elsewhere, including up to about 60km/h at Hawke's Bay Airport between Napier and Bay View in the early afternoon.

While there had been some rain in Hawke's Bay on Sunday night and yesterday morning, and some heavier had been expected in Southern Hawke's Bay last night, none was being forecast for the twin cities or other towns in Hawke's Bay before Friday.