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The North Island has been warned to expect more thunderstorms tonight, and possibly tornadoes as well.
The Weather Watch Centre's head analyst, Philip Duncan, said the company's lightning tracker showed thunderstorms off the west coast in the Tasman Sea circling close to the centre of a low.
"As that centre drifts towards Taranaki tonight it will shift those heavy showers on to land, affecting the same regions as today," he said.
The unstable conditions prompted the MetService to issue a severe thunderstorm watch for western and northern Taranaki.
The MetService said squally winds and possible small tornadoes could cause structural damage, including damage to trees and power lines, and make driving hazardous.
In earlier storms today, almost 1300 lightning strikes were recorded across northern New Zealand in one hour.
A Fire Service spokesman said there had been reports of weather-related incidents, but there had been no major problems.
- NZPA
