Wild storm over Gisborne: 500 lightning strikes, large hail stones

Hail on Turihaua Beach yesterday. Picture by Liam Clayton

A fast-moving cold front collided with hot air over the East Coast last night, resulting in one of the most spectacular lightning storms seen in recent years.

The whole sky and landscape was lit up by huge flashes of sheet and forked lightning, with loud claps of thunder hammering the hill country as the storm passed over Gisborne and up the coast.

This morning meteorologist John Law told The Gisborne Herald he had counted over 500 lightning strikes over the region during the event.

No one in the area could claim they had not been warned - MetService issued its first severe thunderstorm watch at 1.21pm yesterday.

It gave “an alert to the potential development of severe thunderstorms with very heavy rain, large hail and damaging winds for eastern areas from Marlborough to Gisborne”.

Later in the afternoon came the news of Wellington being hit by the bad weather, causing widespread damage.

At 5.35pm MetService updated its watch to advise that a southerly wind change with thunderstorms would move north through the Tararua District, Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne/Tairāwhiti in the evening, reaching Gisborne City around 8pm.

Then, at 7.47pm the watch changed to a warning for Wairoa and Gisborne.

The Mahia weather radar had detected severe thunderstorms offshore of Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, inland at Whakaki, Wairoa and Gisborne as far as Whangara.

The storm was expected to move north-east, covering from Mahia to Tolaga Bay, and move further north to Tokomaru Bay by 8.37pm.

MetService warned the storm would bring very heavy rain, large hail, damaging wind gusts and frequent lightning.

Hail, some of it up to 2.5cm in diameter, fell in many areas, and there were intense but very short bursts of rain.

The hills around Gisborne were drenched with 15 millimetres or more in bursts, in just over an hour.

By 8.30pm the storm had moved north and off the coast, and at 9pm the warning was lifted for the area.