Previous Next

June 2021 Auckland Tornado: A front moved across the north of the North Island during June 19, with thunderstorms and heavy downpours of rain. One of these storms spawned a tornado in South Auckland which left a trail of destruction in Papatoetoe.

August 2019 New Zealand Storm: A complex low pressure system, with a number of associated fronts, brought rain, gales and thunderstorms to many parts of the country, and snow down to 300 to 400 metres across southern and eastern parts of the lower South Island.

April 2018 New Zealand Storm: A low pressure system crossed New Zealand, bringing severe gales to the North Island and upper South Island. Auckland was particularly badly affected. Two tornadoes (one at Rahotu in Taranaki, and the other at National Park) were reported.

December 2015 Canterbury and Otago Storm: Canterbury and Otago were hit hard by a severe storm in the afternoon of 15 December 2015. Lightning strikes caused fires, power lines came down, and there were tornadoes, hail storms and flooding. Cooling upper level temperatures over Canterbury and Otago combined with daytime heating led to the development of showers and a few thunderstorms. MetService had a severe thunderstorm watch in place in Christchurch, the Canterbury Plains and high country and North Otago. Weather forecasters were predicting hail up to 3cm across.

May 2015 Bay of Plenty Tornado: A tornado hit Mount Maunganui just before 8.30pm, damaging homes and buildings, causing havoc with powerlines, pulling down fences and scattering debris across roads.

April 2013 Upper North Island and Nelson Storm: Clashes of cold southeasterly and warm northerly airmasses, from a large and complex low pressure system in the Tasman Sea, brought wet and unsettled weather to many areas of New Zealand. The worst weather during this period were very heavy rainfalls in the western Bay of Plenty on the 20th and in the Nelson region on the 21st.

December 2012 Auckland Tornado: Around midday on Thursday 6 December an active trough line passed slowly through Auckland. A thunderstorm in this line produced a tornado that touched down near Hobsonville and Whenuapai. After passing northwest Auckland, the line of showers continued on a southeast path that took it across northern Waikato, Bay of Plenty and across Mahia Peninsula

June 2011 Taranaki Tornado: A swarm of tornados struck North Taranaki (New Plymouth city, Bell Block and Omata) damaging property and causing power outage.

May 2011 Auckland Tornado: The tornado formed from a very active and well defined band of thunderstorm activity on the afternoon of the 3rd May 2011. The destructive tornado swept across Auckland's North Shore, leaving a trail of destruction from Albany to Glenfield.

September 2010 New Zealand Storm: Seven days of storms lashed the country. Heavy snow in the South Island caused heavy losses of stock to farmers. Flooding and high winds caused damage to roads and power lines.

May 2010 Tasman-Nelson Flooding: There were thunderstorms across New Zealand and a tornado in Taranaki which caused some damage. Tasman-Nelson was hit with heavy rain which caused flooding in the Tapawera area. 22 households were evacuated.

March 2010 Wellington and Marlborough Storm: A southerly front moved up the South Island towards Wellington where high winds damaged powerlines and blew trees over roads and railway lines. Wellington was also hit by a tornado.

May 2009 New Zealand Cold Snap: A cold snap brought cold temperatures, hail and ice to parts of the North Island, with snow in the Central North Island. Snow and high winds were experienced in the South Island. Four people were injured and one killed in traffic accidents on icy roads and two boys had hypothermia when they were resuced from the snow in the Ruahine Ranges.

May 2009 South Island and Lower North Island Storm: High winds, heavy rain and flooding occurred around the lower North Island and the South Island, affecting lifelines and causing some damage. In Canterbury, 34 people were evacuated due to flooding, and one person was injured on a flooded Otago road.

May 2009 Bay of Plenty Hail and South Island Snow and Flooding: Thunderstorms, waterspouts and a severe hailstorm hit parts of the Bay of Plenty, causing disruption and damage. Thunderstorms were also experienced in other parts of the North Island and snow fell on the higher ranges in the Central North Island and Taranaki. Snow fell to low levels in Canterbury, Otago and Southland, and flooding blocked some roads. In Otago, seven people were injured in weather-related incidents.

January 2009 Canterbury Thunderstorms: Thunderstorms over Canterbury, Otago and Southland brought lightning, hail, heavy rain and waterspouts.

January 2009 Upper North Island Thunderstorm: Thunderstorms over Auckland, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty produced lightning, hail, heavy rain and a waterspout.

January 2009 South Island Thunderstorms: High winds and thunderstorms passed over Canterbury and parts of the West Coast and Otago, bringing damaging hail and lightning to Canterbury. There was a tornado in Waikouaiti.

November 2008 Canterbury Hail: An intense hailstorm hit the Ashburton area, causing million of dollars of damage. Also, heavy rain in Taranaki and a small tornado in Hawke's Bay.

November 2008 South Island Cold Snap: An Antarctic blast brought unseasonable snow, hail and high winds to the South Island and hail and lightning occurred in Wellington.

Next Previous