Severe thunderstorms one for the history books

Thunder storms. Photo / Hawkes Bay Today

I know humans have short term memories when it comes to remembering weather events but I have to say the outbreak of severe thunderstorms across the North Island this week is surely one for the history books.

The severe forecasters at MetService have done a stunning job not only forecasting the thunderstorms but also regularly updating the media with maps and text pinpointing the smallest of settlements in the firing line for these storms.

To me, this is where our government forecaster excels. I believe their thunderstorm outlooks, watches and their brand new severe thunderstorm warnings are their most reliable products.

I can't remember a time when so many regions were affected by such severe thunderstorms over so many consecutive days.

And Thursday poses a very similar risk - although this time the South Island also has a risk of widespread storms. But much of the North Island is back in the forecast for Severe thunderstorms too.

Yesterday the Lightning Tracker - which you can view here went crazy in the evening. It was recording well over 3000 lightning strikes per hour, almost entirely over the Waikato region. It's amazing to watch the storms pop up one by one...then suddenly explode into action, as they did last night.

Check out a number of fantastic thunderstorm photos from this week here.

The MetService forecasters must be exhausted - because I know I am. Not only is WeatherWatch providing news stories on these storms but we're also posting all of the new MetService Severe Thunderstorm Warnings. Of course we have the easy job of just uploading them on to our site, but still we must monitor all the storms to ensure our news stories are up to day and sometimes we're updating those stories every few minutes for several hours. I think I hit the pillow at 1am on Wednesday with radio interviews beginning at 6:30am.

Of course most weather enthusiasts know all about the lack of sleep during thunderstorms. Not from the noise but simply from the adrenaline rush. If you love thunderstorms then you'll get what I'm talking about!

I've been thinking long and hard about which regions I personally think are having the best weather this summer. Completely subjective but they are my opinion.

My criteria were:

* Sunny days
* Hot days
* Thunderstorms (for a bit of fun)
* Warm nights

So here are my top 3 regions.

Number 1: Bay of Plenty. The weather has been stunning in the Bay. Plenty of sunny and really hot days. High humidity, warm nights and plenty of daytime highs in the late 20s.

Number 2: I gotta say it, but Auckland. Auckland has actually been remarkably dry...and while we haven't had thunderstorms we have had some really hot days and pretty warm nights. Lots of evenings out on the deck and apart from a windy start to January it's turned out pretty good. (possibly looking fairly windy next week though).

Number 3: Waikato. They've had incredibly hot days - many unofficial sites recording into the lower 30s. High humidity, good lazy weather...and recently thunderstorms that have been simply magnificent.

My 3 worst regions for summer weather so far this year.

Coming in at Number 1: Canterbury. Now before you Cantabrians hurl abuse at me I admit this is based on the coastal regions and I also know that this summer is one of the worst you've had in many many years...a one off. But the constant cloud and temps in the teens...not to mention people lighting fires at night. Yuck.

Number 2: Southland. While conditions have improved lately (dropping you to number 2 from number 1!) the wind, rain and miserable temperatures of December and early January have been fairly dismal for Summer.

Number 3: Wellington. A lot of cold southerlies and rain... not ideal at all.

As I said - subjective. So I'm keen to hear which region you think has had the best summer this year (or the worst).