Wild weather: Severe thunderstorm warning as rain hits Auckland, top of the North Island

MetService has issued a "severe thunderstorm watch" covering Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island, the Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato and Bay of Plenty.

The warning covers the period from 7pm Friday, through to 8am on Saturday.

In its warning, MetService said: "An unstable airmass with embedded troughs is expected to affect the upper North Island this evening, overnight and into Saturday morning. In much of Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, the north of Waikato and the far west of the Bay of Plenty.

Severe Thunderstorm Watch issued https://t.co/UCQkL27hLy pic.twitter.com/ojfGJLX6fz

— Severe Weather Info (@MetServiceWARN) June 26, 2020

"Thunderstorms are likely and there is a risk that some of these could be accompanied by downpours with rainfall intensities of 25 to 35mm per hour and tornadoes with strong wind gusts.

A few isolated #thunderstorms between #Whangarei and northern #Auckland this afternoon & evening. Auckland city not as exposed.

⚡️Thunderstorm risk maps - #Live lightning tracker here: https://t.co/LVtkFshZJL

🚨Current @MetService weather warnings here: https://t.co/7xoHniWE4o pic.twitter.com/pJ92a3CahB

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) June 26, 2020

"Wind gusts of this strength can cause some structural damage, including trees and power lines, and may make driving hazardous. If any tornadoes occur, they will only affect very localised areas."

Meanwhile, rain this week has topped up Auckland's critically low reservoir dam levels.

Watercare said the region's dams were 47.1 per cent full, compared to 44.8 per cent on Wednesday. The normal average level for this time of year is 78.53 per cent.

Where there's a bar 📊, there's a chance for rain on Saturday 🌧️

An 'inside day' in the north and east of the North Island.

🟩 10 mm
🟦 25 mm
🟪 50 mm pic.twitter.com/kV71k2a0H1

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) June 26, 2020