The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts]
Climate
Climate.
The climate of the Hawke's Bay district is mild, and is subject to neither extreme of temperature. The coastal districts are hot and dry in summer, but the heat is by no means so relaxing as in the humid atmosphere of Auckland. Except in the bush country, and the highlands at some distance from the coast, the rainfall is light; the average for over thirty years being only about thirty-seven inches.