More than 600 lightning strikes in and over city as storm hits Auckland

Monday, 30 August 2021

More than 600 lightning strikes in and over Auckland have been providing a good light show, but the rain from the thunderstorm isn’t enough to cause concern, the MetService says.

Earlier in the day, a heavy rain watch was put in place for Auckland, Great Barrier Island and Coromandel Peninsula from 2pm.

Lightning strikes the Sky Tower as a thunderstorm passes over Auckland on Monday evening.

But other than the lightning, so far most of Auckland has escaped the heaviest of the rain – although 23mm was recorded in Helensville, in the city’s west, between 7pm and 8pm.

MetService forecaster Allister Gorman said the rain was not enough for them to issue any warnings, but was still enough to cause surface flooding, so cautioned anyone on the roads to take care.

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Heavy rain fell over Auckland’s Grey Lynn on Sunday afternoon.

“Nothing has jumped out at us as being overly severe,” he said. “It's just a good light show.”

The storm is set to move further north on Tuesday and conditions in the city should ease, Gorman said.

It follows heavy rain and hail in some parts of the city on Sunday.

The watch is expected to last for 24 hours, into Tuesday afternoon.

“A band of heavy rain associated with a low-pressure system to the west of northern New Zealand is expected to lie slow-moving over Coromandel Peninsula and Auckland from this afternoon until Tuesday afternoon,” MetService said.

“There is some uncertainty as to exactly where the heaviest rain will fall but rainfall amounts may approach warning criteria in the vicinity of this rain-band.”

Mental Health Foundation chief executive Shaun Robinson said wet weather “did not help” with people’s wellbeing in lockdown but it did not mean people could not exercise.

It just meant they had to get a bit creative – or get a little wet on their daily walk.

Robinson said that if the weather was too horrible to attempt a daily walk, there were a number of online resources where exercise could be done inside.

It was important to keep the body moving, he said.

Meteorologist Angus Hines said it would be “wet and windy” from Monday afternoon through to the second half of Tuesday.

There could be some heavy falls and thunderstorms, he said.

Auckland Civil Defence warned people on social media about the watch, saying a “band of heavy rain” was rolling across the region on Monday through to Tuesday.

It advised people to keep up to date with information through MetService.