Heavy rain drenches an already sodden Hawke's Bay
Close to a month's worth of rain drenched an already sodden Hawke's Bay overnight, causing surface flooding, slips and road closures.
MetService Meteorologist Peter Little said it had already been a "considerably wet" month, made even wetter with no less than 30 millimetres of rain recorded in rain gauges across the region.
Over the past 24 hours to 9am, Te Pōhue recorded the most rain with 92mm, followed by Napier Airport at 49mm, Māhia 43mm, Takapau 42mm, Pōrangahau 40mm and Wairoa 33mm.
With a week still to go, there has already been 146mm of rain this month recorded at Napier Airport - more than two times the September average of 61mm.
Thursday’s overnight rainfall marked the fifth wettest September day for the Napier site since records began in 1950.
"It's quite a significant amount,", Little said.
The heavy rain warning for those in Hawke’s Bay and other parts of the East Coast was lifted about 9am.
"The good news is that band of rain has pushed south, so we are expecting brighter conditions for the second part of the day.
"But because the atmosphere is still quite unstable, with that daytime heating, we are expecting there to be another risk of showers and thunderstorms developing this afternoon and evening," Little said.
A police spokesman said they have received a number of reports of slips and road closures around the region.
In one instance, surface flooding is believed to be the cause of a crash on Waimarama Road, where a car went into a ditch.
Emergency services were called at 12.55am, and St John Ambulance attended as a precaution, the spokesman said.
While the car remains on the road, with the airbags deployed, no one was injured.
