Tasman district fire: MetService forecasts no rain, light winds, 22C today

Name: Dramatic images as fire approaches Pigeon Hill home
Uploaded: 2019-02-07T14:59:28+13:00
Duration: 292 s
Description: Fire, police, and Civil Defence have reassured residents that evacuation was not a decision taken lightly, and they would get people back into their homes as soon as it was safe.

NZ Herald

7 Feb, 2019 04:00 PM2 mins to read

Fire, police, and Civil Defence have reassured residents that evacuation was not a decision taken lightly, and they would get people back into their homes as soon as it was safe.

Firefighters and residents of the fire-stricken zone of Tasman district have been given no hope of help from rain today, but at least the winds are expected to be light.

Isolated showers in the afternoon and early evening are forecast for west of Tasman Bay, but that is 20km from the 1600ha zone in which fires, that exploded in Pigeon Valley near Wakefield on Tuesday, continue to burn.

"I know the fire service would like to hear there's a big band of rain coming over but unfortunately that's not the case," said MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray.

Civil Defence said the weather was favourable yesterday, the Pigeon Valley fire had not grown, and the intensity of the fire had decreased. However, the situation was vulnerable to changes in the weather.

The Tasman district fire at its peak in the hills southwest of Nelson city. Photo / Supplied.

The temperature todayis expected to reach 22C, with a fine start and a partly cloudy sky from late morning.

Another high resolution satellite image from a low level NOAA satellite of the smoke from the #nelsonfire at Pigeon Valley today. You can clearly identify the smoke as the mornings cloud burnt away. It has been pushed further inland as a sea breeze developed this afternoon. ^JM pic.twitter.com/4u05A5XEtY
— MetService (@MetService) February 7, 2019

Tomorrow is forecast to be another fine day in the tinder-dry Nelson/Tasman region, with showers confined to the mountain ranges, northerly breezes and a high of 25C.

The north wind is expected to pick up for a time on Sunday, with the temperature reaching 24C.

Rain is anticipated in the southern and central West Coast from a front that will move up the South Island overnight on Sunday/Monday. But based on the summer pattern in force since early last month, the front is expected to fizzle by the time it reaches Nelson/Tasman.