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Wellington struck as thunderstorms struck

Wellington is the latest to receive a pummel, with heavy rain and thunderstorms through parts of the North Island.

MetService forecaster Aidan Pyselman said Porirua received 13mm of rain between 7pm and 8pm on Tuesday night as electric storms moved through the area. The weather station at Wellington Airport received 13.8 mm of rain the following hour.

Robert Kitchin / Stuff

As of early Tuesday afternoon, 10,000 lightning strikes were recorded across the country as thunderstorms hit the North Island.

Kelburn railway station recorded 13mm, indicating that the rain was consistent across the city. By 9 p.m., it was light.

As of early afternoon, 10,000 lightning strikes were recorded across the country. Some of them had been offshore, but many were overland – this was an unusually high number, Pyselman said.

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Michael Lanzensberger / Provided

Lightning strikes under the clouds of Island Bay at 19.42.

Pyselman had previously said the weather would move south of the city and out into the Cook Strait.

Weather warnings were in place for parts of Wellington, Manawatū, and Hawke’s Bay after severe thunderstorms were detected offshore in the west of the country in the Tasmanian Sea around 6 p.m.

METSERVICE

Around 20.00 on Tuesday heavy rain is moving over Wellington.

By 9 p.m., heavy rain warnings had remained just for Gisborne, and heavy rain monitoring around Taupo, on the North Island.

Ross Giblin / Stuff

Don Dai of Joe’s Food World in Johnsonville cleans up after a sudden severe thunderstorm to a lightning flood in the street.

There was a band of rainy weather over Northern Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, expected to grow hard by 9 p.m. The warning remains in place until Thursday.

Areas of Gisborne received 29.5 mm per hour between 5pm and 6pm on Tuesday night.

Calum Rawlinson / Delivered

Storm Kapiti, taken just after 19:00.

Central North Island could expect rain and potential thunderstorms on Wednesday, and as far north as Auckland could see lightning, thunder and heavy showers as well.

On the south island, Buller, in the far northwest corner of the island, had until Wednesday afternoon a heavy rain monitoring on the site.