Ex-tropical Cyclone Hola may have swept past Tauranga nearly unnoticed but whether another cyclone heading towards Queensland will strike New Zealand remains unclear.
Niwa principal scientist - forecasting Chris Brandolino said it was the expectation from early Sunday that Tauranga and New Zealand would miss the brunt of the Ex-tropical Cyclone Hola, which was the case.
"It tracked too far east ... it was a small storm."
Brandolino said there was now another cyclone near Queensland but "there's still a lot of uncertainty" surrounding its activity, so he was unsure whether it would hit Tauranga or New Zealand.
It was unlikely to impact New Zealand but Brandolino said weather experts should know by tomorrow how the new cyclone was progressing.