500 lightning strikes hit Rotorua and cut power to 1400 homes

A storm lasting just over an hour that saw 500 bolts of lightning and crashing thunder cut power to more than 1400 homes in Rotorua today.

But the exact amount of rain that fell isn't known because a lightning bolt struck the city's rainfall gauge at the Rotorua Airport.

The storm, which had earlier in the morning wrecked havoc in the Auckland and Waikato regions, struck Rotorua about 9.30am and was all over by 11am.

The lightning caused power outages to 1448 customers around the Ngongotahā, Fairy Springs, Mamaku and Hamurana areas, near Rotorua.

Unison relationship manager Danny Gough said the lightning strikes were the cause of the power outages.

"They have caused some part of the network to trip out."

Most of the affected customers, 627 homes, were in the Ngongotahā and Fairy Springs areas and lost power for 31 minutes.

Gough said power was restored when workers in the area were able to replace blown fuses in the transformers.

Rotorua was hit by 500 lightning strikes this morning. Photo / Weather Watch

He said anyone who experienced more serious power issues within their homes with blown appliances was advised to contact their insurance company.

Fire crews responded to four building alarm activations caused as a result of the lightning strikes on Pukuatua St, Pukeroa St, Fairy Springs Rd and Pururu St, a fire communications shift manager said.

MetService meteorologist James Millward said there had been 500 lightning strikes by 11.15am.

"That's a pretty reasonable amount ... It's pretty intense thunder caused by the storm moving over the region. There's a lot of low cloud and if you're sitting underneath, it will feel pretty intense."

He said MetService was only able to guess the rainfall from rain radars as the rain gauge at the Rotorua Airport was destroyed by a lightning strike.

The estimate is about 15mm between 9.30am and 2pm.

A police spokesman said they hadn't been called to any weather-related crashes but a member of the public contacted police about 10.30am after concerns an elderly man had gone out in the rain on his mobility scooter in the Whakarewarewa area.

Police checked on the man who was found to be fine, the spokesman said.

Lightning strikes were reportedly behind the deaths of four cows yesterday on a farm outside Hamilton and a woman was taken to hospital in Auckland after reportedly being hit by lightning in Māngere.

Auckland experienced more than 800 lightning strikes.

Meanwhile, Rotorua residents are in for some relief from the wet conditions this week with showers expected tomorrow and Thursday before sunshine at the weekend Friday, including temperatures of 22C and 24C on Saturday and Sunday.