“It was huge, I was like... I hope that doesn’t come onto land.”
Hawcridge said though it was raining in the Waipū township, it wasn’t raining at her place in the hills, and it wasn’t windy at all.
After she took the photo, it simply disappeared.
“It was pointier and closer to the water before I took the photo. After I took the photo it dissipated quickly, thank goodness.”
MetService Meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said waterspouts are usually seen as “extensions from thunderstorm activity”.
They occur with strong winds that have a sharp change in direction, which causes a rotation that can lead to a waterspout.
“That sharp change in direction and wind speed between the surface and upper levels of the atmosphere sets up a rotation. If it’s intense enough, that’s when we see a waterspout.”
Makgabutlane said though it may not have been windy in Waipū, it was likely windy closer to the centre of the storm.
“Normally with thunderstorms, they have strong winds going into the storm, that’s where the wind updraughts.”
Waterspouts could come onto land “depending on the movement of the storm”, Makgabutlane said, but it depends.
“Normally they tend to be pretty harmless but since they are in the family of tornadoes that is a destructive phenomenon.
“If they do move onto land we could see possible structural damage.”
Severe thunderstorms have also been detected near Te Puke and Mōtītī Island in the Bay of Plenty this long weekend and are moving towards Tauranga, MetService says.
In Northland, heavy showers and thunderstorms with hail could be expected in the west on Monday, with more showers on Tuesday, heavy at times with possible thunderstorms and hail in the east.
