One Herald reader reported surface flooding on Discovery Dr, Flagstaff, in Hamilton.
MetService said this storm had carried the most lightning strikes recorded in one day this year.
Power outages have been reported in several Rotorua suburbs, including Ngongataha Valley and Tikitere after the storm hit the region earlier tonight.
Nigel Herbert, owner of Tauranga wedding venue Eagle Ridge, said he saw the thunderstorm roll through Ohauiti from his property's vantage point on Ohauiti Rd and lightning caused trees to burst into flames.
"It was a really active thunderstorm, there must have been 20 different lightning bolts. There was really heavy rain as it went through, no wind at all, which was quite unusual."
Herbert said he had seen plenty of thunderstorms pass by the property but this one was "pretty rare".
"It left some damage in its path. My son Tane flew his drone over and looks like an orchard hedge quite badly burnt."
A Fire and Emergency spokesman said the fire service were at the scene of a tree fire on Hereford Rd in Oropi just before 8pm. He believed the tree and surrounding shrubs caught fire as the result of a lightening strike.
Fire and Emergency had also received reports of a second fire, possibly caused by lightening, on Jacks Lane in Oropi.
Earlier, severe thunderstorms hit eastern Bay of Plenty and the Central Plateau.
"We see a lot of weather patterns moving through but nothing quite as spectacular as today's thunderstorms. Lots of lightning and lots of noise," Herbert said.
