Rain, tornado, floods - it's our summer

The approach of Christmas Day usually brings thoughts of sunshine, sunshine and more sunshine.

But yesterday, on the longest day of the year, Auckland was hit by a mini tornado, Christchurch had floods and sea temperatures remained 3C below the average for the 11th day in a row.

Elsewhere, thunder, lightning and hail storms caused chaos, and holidaymakers reconsidered plans to get away to the beach.

It was hardly summer. The temperature in Auckland ranged from 13C to 19C, in Wellington it was 10C to 18C, and in Christchurch it got down to 8C before rising to a balmy 17C.

MetService forecaster Geoff Sanders said the weather was "quite bizarre" but the mini-tornado reported in Auckland was in keeping with the lightning and thunder occurring around the country.

The tornado started with strong winds that hit Penrose businesses with such force at 8.10am that windows were broken.

Spandex operations and logistics manager Les Balderston said he was sitting in his office when the door blew open and papers went flying.

The wind travelled through the office before exploding out of the side of the building.

"I though I saw a piece of cardboard flying past the window but it was actually a piece of aluminium joinery," he said. "Then the glass blew out. That's when all hell broke loose."

In Mt Wellington, the wind blew the contents of recycling and wheelie bins all over the roads.

At Ruawai Rd, it picked up roof tiles, ripped off letter boxes, knocked over trees and collapsed fences.

Lorraine Cooper, who is visiting from Australia's Gold Coast for Christmas, was on her daughter's deck when she looked up to see a "mini tornado".

"It was just like a path of wind about 50m wide with heaps of leaves gathered up there, swirling about 20m in the air above my head."

Within seconds the tornado moved to the next street, damaging about six properties.

The last reports of damage were at Coldmaster Products, on the corner of Carbine Rd and the South Eastern Highway, where a garage was thrown from one section to another and a truck moved across a yard.

Manager Brian Parr said polystyrene blocks, weighing about 100kgs each, were picked up and snapped in half. Some landed on the nearby motorway.

Heavy hailstorms this week damaged fruit in Tasman, Canterbury, Hawkes Bay and parts of Auckland.

In the South Island, a close watch is being kept on Otago rivers after two days of steady rain.

The Otago Regional Council said 30mm to 55mm of rain fell in most of Otago since yesterday.

The council's environmental information and science director, Dr John Threlfall, said the rain had been persistent if not intense.

"River flows across the region had already been elevated by steady rainfall over the last two weeks, and these recent falls have pushed several rivers over or near flood warning levels," he said.

Weather Ambassador Bob McDavitt said slight relief was in sight - but not for long.

Cold southerlies arriving on Friday should weaken briefly on Christmas Day and a sunny break is being forecast for many places.

But the bad weather is likely to return for Boxing Day, and showers may affect the first one-day cricket international against Sri Lanka at Eden Park in Auckland.
And many camping grounds are reporting last-minute cancellations.

The forecast

Tomorrow: North Island - showers in most places, but fine in Gisborne till evening. South Island - showers in the south and east and also about Buller at first. Fine elsewhere.

Christmas Day: Fine or becoming fine in most places. A few showers linger about Taranaki and from Auckland northwards into the afternoon.

Boxing Day: Unsettled conditions return, with rain or showers in most places. Fine in Gisborne and Hawkes Bay.