The spectacular storm caused a tree to catch fire in Conifer Grove and, in Ellerslie, Jason Darrow woke up to find a palm tree had smashed through a fence into his garden, narrowly missing the house next door.
The roof of one Albany home is understood to have caught fire in the blaze, causing extensive damage but no injuries. Wind gusts were clocked at up to 128km/h in the Auckland region.
Twitter users likened the sound of the storm to bombs or train crashes, stating they had never seen anything like it.
MetService meteorologist Rob Kerr said the freak thunderstorm was caused by extremely warm air moving across the country from Australia ahead of a cold front.
"That really warm air that was over Sydney, baking them in 40-odd degrees a couple of days ago, and ahead of that cold front that we had come through last night - that was what was sitting over Auckland," he said.
"It's really de-stabilised everything and created all those thunderstorms."
The rest of the week would be a bit "hectic" with settled weather tomorrow giving way to periods of rain sweeping across the North Island on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The South Island was in for strong winds and heavy rain on Monday, with a warning in place for heavy rain in the Westland Ranges south of Otira until late Tuesday.
"It's going to be kind of a wet mid-week. Once we get past the fine day on Monday, there'll be rain spreading from the north during the course of the week.
"It'll be another hectic spring week. This is generally the feature of El Nino, generally things move through very quickly so you get this constant changing of systems."
He said the temperatures were expected to drop slightly, particularly in the South Island, as cooler winds move towards the country towards the end of the week.
Heavy rain was expected in the west of the South Island and gales were possible in southern and central New Zealand as an active front approaches on Thursday.
"Later in the week, towards the end of the week, it's going to be a cool southwest change that's going to affect much of the South Island.
"It's not as cold as we have been, it's not like a real arctic blast, but it is a change to cooler southwesterlies. Ahead of that again will be some strong winds, strong northwesterlies affecting the South Island and lower North Island as well."
WeatherWatch head analyst Philip Duncan said Saturday night's thunderstorm was unusual.
The stormy weather raged continuously from about 11.55pm to 12.20am for some central and northern Auckland suburbs, with many saying they had never experienced anything like it, he said.
"A few expressed their concern at 'too close for comfort' forked lightning, including one near-miss to a house in Kaukapakapa," he said.
"The thunderstorm event could have lasted hours had it not been for a near gale westerly blowing it all along."
MONDAY AND TUESDAY FORECAST:
* Whangarei: Morning cloud on Monday then fine. High 22C, low 12C. Tuesday will see cloud increasing and rain developing. High 22C, low 16C.
* Auckland: A fine day with morning and evening cloud on Monday. High 19C, low 12C. On Tuesday, cloud increasing and rain moving in. High 21C, low 16C.
* Hamilton: Fine, apart from some cloud. High 20C, low 7C. Cloudy periods on Tuesday with light winds. High 21C, low 12C.
* Tauranga: A fine day with breezes on Monday. High 21C, low 9C. Fine again on Tuesday before rain sets in on Wednesday. High 21C, low 14C.
* Wellington: Monday is fine with evening cloud and gusty northerlies. High 17C, low 12C. Tuesday will see cloudy periods and fresh winds. High 17C, low 13C.
* Christchurch: Fine with high cloud on Monday. High 23C, low 12C. Similar on Tuesday with fine weather and high cloud, along with gusty northwesterlies. High 24C, low 12C.
* Dunedin: Fine spells on Monday with the chance of afternoon and evening showers. High 23C, low 11C. Fine spells and chance of showers again on Tuesday. High 23C, low 12C.
* Queenstown: Showers and fine spells with fresh westerlies on Monday. High 18C, low 9C. Fine spells on Tuesday with chance of morning showers. High 20C, low 9C.
