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A severe thunderstorm has hit southern Waikato, producing 2,600 lightning strikes and causing flooding.
South Waikato was hit by heavy rain, hail and lightning Thursday afternoon, causing long delays on State Highway One and flooding in the city of Pūtāruru.
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MetService meteorologist Peter Little said that there was a fairly intense cell near Pūtāruru that produced quite a large hail.
“It has been a very active afternoon on the North Island there were 2,600 lightning strikes and in Waikato there were 1,800 discharges [as of 6.40pm]Little said.
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There is still a severe weather alert in parts of the North Island until 9pm tonight, which means conditions are still there and thunderstorms may develop.
SUPPLIED
Traffic jammed on State Highway One in Pūtāruru as rain poured down on Thursday
The weather appeared to be heading towards the Bay of Plenty, with Te Puke and Tauranga in the line of fire next from thunderstorms.
“But with daytime warming starting to slow down, activity should start to decline as well,” Little said.
These types of events are normal for the fall, he added.
James Greenfield captured lightning from Papamoa Beach.
James Greenfield / Supplied
Rays seen from Papamoa Beach.
The forecast is better for Friday with a southbound flow moving over the area.
“So it will be a little colder and also the cold air in the upper atmosphere will drift away, so conditions will become more stable. There will still be some rain, but we don’t expect much thunderstorm activity.
A police spokeswoman said they had received some calls reporting flooding on the roads in Pūtāruru on Thursday afternoon.
She said there was an accident in which a car crashed into a ditch on Domain Road at 5:20 p.m. but the driver was not injured.
A motorist, who did not want to be named, said that driving through Pūtāruru there was flooding throughout the city, which had been stuck in traffic in Pūtāruru for 45 minutes.
Emergency services were all over the city.
