'We've had a bit of a hiding': Tornado in Papamoa, severe thunderstorm watch, heavy rain as Bay of Plenty lashed with wild weather

A small tornado that tore through Papamoa has left a mess of debris in its wake as the Bay of Plenty is lashed with thunderstorms, high winds and heavy rain.

Local man Gregg Conning filmed as debris was lifted into the air as the tornado passed through.

"I live right on the edge of town so I watched the whole thing tear through the farm. The neighbour's playground is gone, their fence is gone, it's left quite a trail in its wake.

"I first spotted a big black tramp floating through the air and just as I was thinking 'what the heck, is that a tramp?' a second tramp flew past.

"It was a decent little hurricane."

Conning said Papamoa had been lashed with wild weather all morning, but it had chilled out for the moment.

"Thunder, lightning, then this little tornado, we've had a bit of a hiding today."

Fire and Emergency NZ shift manager Craig Dally said fire crews had been called to about 10 weather-related incidents at Papamoa Beach.

"There have been no injuries but a lot of rooves lifting off houses, tiles coming off from the tornado that went through there.

"We have had relatively few calls elsewhere in the Bay of Plenty, there's been a few false alarms that were activated by the rain in Tauranga but otherwise no calls."

Blake Travers, 15, made the most of the flooding on Campbell Rd in Mount Maunganui. Photo / Cira Olivier

Metservice meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said there had been at least two tornadoes in the Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga that "would have been significant".

"There may well have been a few other small tornadoes but they may have not touched down."

She said cities across the Bay of Plenty had been hit with strong, gusting winds and heavy rainfall.

"Between 12pm and 1pm Tauranga recorded winds of up to 83km/h which is fairly strong. Towards Whakatane winds were significant but not as strong, sitting around 60km/h. In Rotorua winds were getting up to 57km/h between 12pm and 2pm.

"In a single hour, between 12pm and 1pm, Tauranga measured 16.8mm of rain. That is a lot of rain for a short amount of time, we would expect to see some flash flooding and slips as a result."

Since 9am this morning, Tauranga has had a whopping 25.4mm of rain, while Rotorua has had 12.8mm.

"We are still expecting a second trough to move across the Bay of Plenty later this afternoon and into the evening which will bring more downpours and strong winds."

A severe thunderstorm watch was issued this morning for the Bay of Plenty region and is valid until tonight.

The MetService watch also covers the Kaimai Range, Coromandel Peninsula and the far north of Gisborne.

Forecasters are warning of "a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms" and possible "downpours with rainfall intensities of 25 to 35mm per hour and small tornadoes with strong wind gusts" through to 11pm tonight.

The conditions in the upper North Island are being caused by "an unstable airmass with embedded troughs" according to a MetService press release this morning.

"Wind gusts of this strength can cause some structural damage, including trees
and power lines, and may make driving hazardous," it said.

"If any tornadoes occur, they will only affect very localised areas."

It said the rainfall could cause "surface and/or flash flooding, especially
about low-lying areas such as streams, rivers or narrow valleys, and may also
lead to slips".

"Driving conditions will also be hazardous with surface flooding and poor
visibility in heavy rain."