North Island hit by thunderstorm, strong winds and heavy rain

Sunday, 11 August 2019

Part of The Cloud's roof appears to have been torn off by high winds.

An Auckland man says his house sounded like it had 'exploded' as a neighbour's roof crashed into his yard during a powerful storm on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, The Cloud on Queen's Wharf is among the damaged buildings – part of the waterfront venue's roof is missing after the building was battered by 'freak' winds.

The Cloud on Auckland's Queen's Wharf. Part of its roof has been blown of during a storm on Sunday night.

Roofs have been also ripped off houses in east Auckland, while powerlines are down along some streets after thunderstorms, hail and damaging wind gusts hammered the City of Sails.

St Heliers resident Billy Hawkins said his neighbour's roof had been ripped off and was now scattered throughout Hawkins' front yard.

Snow was settling on Burke's Pass and Lake Alexandrina near Lake Tekapo on Saturday.

* Heavy snow fall forces road closures in South Island

Lightning strikes were seen near Te Awamutu on Sunday night.

* 'Very unsettled' weather expected to hit parts of New Zealand**

'There was just like a big bang and the storm suddenly ripped next door's roof off,' Hawkins said.'It literally felt like our house exploded.'

Billy Hawkins took this picture of his neighbour's roof scattered around his front yard.

Hawkins said powerlines were also down along his street, which had been cordoned off by the fire brigade.

Windows and doors at his own home had also been blown out, he said.

'We have lost a section of our roof,' Hawkins added.

'We've had wind, but this was just freak – it must have been some sort of freak wind.'

Earlier, MetService issued severe thunderstorm warnings for Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato and Bay of Plenty. Niwa said that over 700 lightning strikes were recorded in an hour.

MetService has since lifted the severe thunderstorm warning for Northland and Auckland.

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Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman Daniel Nicholson told Stuff firefighters had responded to about 12 weather-related emergencies on Sunday night.

Moses Thompson, 4, gets his first taste of mountain snow at Porters Pass, west of Christchurch.

Firefighters remained on the scene at Small Fry Nursery School in Bermuda Rd, Glendowie, after wind gusts reportedly ripped the roof off one of the buildings on site.

There were also reports of a tree falling on a house in Glendowie, however Nicholson believed the tree had missed any dwellings.

Kaia Frew, centre, celebrated her 3rd birthday with family and friends in the snow at Porters Pass on Sunday.

Firefighters had also been called to a number of alarm activations caused by power surges after lightning strikes, Nicholson said.

MetService meteorologist Curtis Hayes said the worst of the storm had past Auckland by 9.20pm.

Nine-week-old Lyla Hermansson gets her first taste of snow with mum Christie near Burkes Pass in Canterbury's Mackenzie Country.

At its most intense, MetService picked up wind gusts of 75kmh and a rainfall rate of 5mm per hour.

A road information checkpoint west of Springfield in Canterbury is advising caution and the use of chains to motorists.

The storms are expected to be accompanied by large hail and damaging winds, with gusts of 110kmh or stronger possible mainly near the coast.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued for Auckland Radar Area https://t.co/Ge75IbJBJM pic.twitter.com/SmBlaSXWa6

— Severe Weather Info (@MetServiceWARN) August 11, 2019

Arthur's Pass remains covered by snow on Sunday morning, as this shot from a NZTA webcam shows.

For coastal areas around Auckland, Northland and the Coromandel Peninsula, duty meteorologist Curtis Hayes said on Sunday evening wind speeds were already averaging between 55 and 65kmh.

'We have a line of thunderstorms approaching the upper half of the North Island,' he said. 'We're expecting them to reach the Auckland area and Northland later this evening.'

A heavy rain watch is also in place for central areas of the North Island through to the early hours of Monday morning. Up to 10cm is likely to fall by 3am in the Tararua Range north of Wellington.

Meanwhile, wintry weather that left parts of Canterbury and Otago blanketed in deep snow over the weekend has lifted.

More than a metre of snow reportedly fell in the alpine village of Arthur's Pass, which was cut off after highways had to be closed for safety.

Heavy snow and rain has since eased, leaving minor disruption at Lewis, Arthur's and Porters passes on Sunday evening.

Christchurch man Josiah Thompson and his family spent part of Sunday at Porters Pass playing in the snow for niece Kaia Frew's third birthday.

'It was a bit of a novelty, so she was loving it,' he said. 'We didn't have a cake, but we had a candle and a bit of snow.'

Thompson's three children, aged between 8 months and 4 years old, had never seen snow before and relished sliding down the slope on body boards and building a snowman.

'It was awesome for them to get up there and have a play and discover it all,' he said.

Hayes said the weather across the North Island on Monday would be similar to Sunday, with another low moving across the island from about midday.

On Tuesday, MetService was forecasting a strong and unsettled southwest flow to spread across New Zealand, bringing snow showers which could fall to 300 to 400m in southern parts of Fiordland, Southland and Clutha.