By mid-afternoon, Downes said the thermometer inside the pizza kitchen station was reading 45C.
“We decided that conditions were pretty uncomfortable for both staff and customers so took the opportunity to close early.
“It was the right decision given the circumstances.”
She said it was the first time the site had been closed because of heat.
“Our customers know our venue and also know that it is hot work for our pizza chef on a normal day, so we got messages of support for our decision.
“There are many great venues to enjoy a beer in Hawke’s Bay, so no one was let down.”
The heat and dry conditions also prompted precautionary closures elsewhere.
Te Mata Park was closed from Friday night until Monday morning because of extreme fire risk, driven by strong winds, low humidity and very dry ground following weeks without significant rain.
Meanwhile, Splash Planet had a surge in visitors.
A Hastings District Council spokesperson said attendance has been between 1500 and 2000 every day since Wednesday, with 1729 on Sunday.
MetService meteorologist John Law said the official numbers didn’t fully reflect how hot it felt.
“We take our temperatures in the shade, so it would feel hotter in the direct sunlight,” Law said.
He said humidity and light winds can make it harder for the body to cool down, while inland areas often feel hotter than coastal spots.
Looking ahead, Law said conditions would ease in the following days.
“Temperatures this week, while still a few degrees above average for the time of year, will be cooler than we saw last week.”
He says the January average maximum temperature for Hawke’s Bay is around 25C. Highs of 28-29C are expected in Napier and Hastings early this week before gradually easing toward the weekend.
While the warmer weather did lead to an increase in electricity demand compared with other summer weekends, Unison said it posed no risk to the network.
“Despite the weekend’s heat and higher electricity demand, our network continued to operate well within normal limits, with no heat-related outages,” operations manager Ed Brown said.
An unplanned outage affecting 26 customers on Waitara Rd was carried out at Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s request, as crews worked near a vegetation fire in Te Haroto.
