At least one tornado had hit Mount Maunganui on Thursday night and was followed by strong gusts of wind, MetService forecaster Allister Gorman says.
Mr Gorman said the tornado had come from the same complex trough that wreaked havoc on the Wellington region earlier.
"There does appear to be a line of damage which is consistent with a tornado having hit Mount Maunganui," Mr Gorman said.
"But whether it was one or two, it's hard to say.
Mr Gorman said a change in air temperature, combined with other factors, often helped create a tornado.
"The atmosphere needs to be out of balance and trying to redistribute energy, usually four to five kilometres above the surface," he said.
"The wind flows through the atmosphere have to be just the right sort of conditions."
The MetService forecast for Thursday was a maximum of 19C with northwest winds and heavy rain at times.
"If you were to get these things together, there's a chance if the air rises it can continue into a narrow air volume which turns into a funnel-cloud tornado," Mr Gorman said.
Tornados were especially difficult to predict, Mr Gorman said.
"That's why we can tell people there's a risk of tornado, but it's hard to pinpoint where they will actually turn up."