The day the sky ‘exploded’

Abrief but ferocious storm with a mass of cloud shaped like a fist pummelled Napier late on Christmas Day.

It led to several flooding call-outs and left Napier City Council work crews with a clean-up job after branches came down and debris from gardens washed across streets.

Early rain had cleared to sunshine by Christmas afternoon, but the sound of thunder and the fast building clouds ruined outdoor dinner plans for many.

“It was a severe and very localised system,” MetService meteorologist Gerrit Keyser said.

While it blasted through central Napier it missed the coastal areas of Te Awanga, as well as Taradale and Hastings — although they received rain. Keyser said the thunderstorm built up fast over Napier and that was where it “exploded”.

He described it as a fast-passing low which charged in around 6pm, with 27mm of rain being recorded at Hawke’s Bay Airport.

“That is a lot,” he said.

A peak wind blast of 61km/h was also recorded there during the 45-minute stormy blast.

Firefighters responded to four calls during the event, three to Westshore and one to Ahuriri, where residents were fearful of rising waters around their homes.

A spokesperson for the service said the flooding was minor, with rain getting in, or threatening to get in, after rushing down driveways.

David from Ahuriri said the brief blast washed “half my front garden” onto the road.

It had also dashed a friend’s plans for a barbecue plans in nearby Napier South. “It cleared nicely during the day so he decided that yep, he could get away with it — but he didn’t.”