Thunderstruck: region left shakin’ at the knees (or wet, anyway)

Many in the Dunedin area got a drenching yesterday afternoon after a major thunderstorm swept across the city and surrounding areas.

MetService meteorologist John Laws said 8.2mm of rain fell in the city between 3pm and 4pm. But on the Taieri, it was a different story.

About 27.8mm of rain fell at Dunedin Airport and Mosgiel between 2pm and 3pm, along with significant hail which covered the airport runway and roads in the area.

In the Dunedin area, there were 179 lightning strikes, and for Otago as a whole, there were 475 strikes, he said.

"It was an intense band of rain that ran through there along with that thunder and lightning, and also some substantial hail — a fair amount and a decent size as well.

"It looks like it filled up some of the drains and things and caused some issues through there.

"So it looks like Dunedin, itself, got off lucky." — Allied Media