12,000 lightning strikes in a day

Flooding was reported in West Auckland today after heavy rains. Photo / Ashok Sudhakaran

Almost 12,000 lightning strikes have been recorded over the North Island today.

WeatherWatch.co.nz said the thundery weather peaked today and was to finally ease back this evening.

Wild thunderstorms continued in some parts of the North Island tonight, mostly around northern parts of Auckland and central eastern parts of the North Island. Flooding was being reported in west Auckland.

"There was a flash flood immediately after the heavy rains in Atkinson Road," wrote Ashok Sudhakaran in an email to the Herald about flooding in Titirangi. "A huge amount of water cascaded down the slopes and collected in the front yard of two houses."

As the evening continued to cool, the thunderstorms would ease.

WeatherWatch.co.nz head weather analyst Philip Duncan said storms may pop up in the afternoon tomorrow but were likely to be far more isolated and far less intense.

Mr Duncan said thunderstorms peaked this afternoon with a few thousand lightning strikes detected in just 60 minutes.

Meanwhile, a hot day was on the way for eastern parts of the South Island Saturday ahead of a cold change in which temperatures would drop by more than 10C on Sunday for those in the east.

Chaotic weather
A massive waterspout made a spectacular sight as it bore down on the coast at Ocean Beach, two days after another large waterspout was seen over Auckland skies.

Hail was reported in Kaitaia and Wellsford, where it was so heavy vehicles had to pull over until the cloud passed a few minutes later.

Thunder was heard throughout the region, accompanied by periods of heavy rain.

MetService meteorologist Daniel Corbett said the weather was caused by an upper level, very slow moving low pressure system, that had been squeezed between converging winds from both coasts.

"When you look at it on the (rain) radar it's lighting up like a Christmas tree,'' Mr Corbett said.

He said the waterspout was an indication of the violence in the weather system, which had been over the top part of the country for the past four days and brought a water spout to Auckland earlier in the week.

Mr Corbett said today's weather was likely to be the weather pattern's last big hurrah, with showers and possible heavy downpours tomorrow.

Auckland storm

The storm system was also expected to bring localised torrential rain, large hail, thunder and lightning to areas around Auckland this afternoon.

Several international and domestic flights from Auckland Airport have been delayed as the weather system moves north.

Flights to Christchurch, Tauranga and Blenheim are among those delayed, while a scheduled Air New Zealand trip to Wellington has been cancelled.

MetService said thunderstorms had been detected over much of the upper North Island.
It warned of flash flooding about streams, gullies and urban areas.

The Civil Defence advised people to take shelter away from windows and trees and windows if they were caught near an approaching storm.

Emergency by fire trucks in the central city were triggered by loud thunder activating building alarms, she said.

- Herald Online, APNZ