Stormy Weather

An 'exceptional' storm front that crossed the district on Saturday afternoon produced 436 lightning strikes. This made Gisborne the third most active region storm-wise in New Zealand on a day on which 3009 lightning strikes were recorded nationwide. The storm moved over the city at around 4pm, said MetService meteorologist Tom Adams. It was a localised, shortlived and intense event that dropped more than 12 millimetres of rain in an hour at Gisborne Airport. Mr Adams said there were shades of last week in this week's forecast. Rain is forecast for Friday, with heavier falls on Saturday. Until then it is expected to be fine and humid, with a high of 28 degrees on Thursday. Amateur photographer Janice Feyen captured this shot at Whales in Okitu on her Samsung 10 phone. Janice says she saw the storm coming from her deck and there was a lot of running up and down the beach to get the right spot. 'I spend hours down at the beach. I'm up at 5am waiting for the colours to come so to have a photo come out so amazing is wonderful.' Janice's photo received the most reactions on the Current Gisborne and Surrounding Districts Facebook page to date, with 700 people 'liking' her photograph.