MetService has warned Auckland and Northland commuters to brace themselves for severe thunderstorms later today.
A band of showers and thunderstorms is currently west of the North Island, and forecasters say it will spread across Auckland and Northland before heading eastwards later this afternoon into the evening.
"The main risk is for heavy downpours 10-15mm/hr, damaging wind gusts 110+km/h and small hail but conditions could also be favourable for a possible small tornado but mainly near the coast," MetService spokesman Daniel Corbett said.
WeatherWatch head analyst Philip Duncan said yesterday that the large squalls may produce cloud to ground lightning, isolated tornadoes, damaging wind gusts, hail and flash flooding.
"It's not going to last long, it will quickly move in from the Tasman late in the day then clear the country overnight. For some people in may just be a few showers, for many it will be a short sharp blast, and for a few isolated pockets there could be severe weather."
