Wild(ish) weather in New Zealand

I think NZ is trying to keep up with the “Jones’s”. I finally got the weather station functioning just in time for a wild Wellington night.
It recorded 70 Kph winds before I retired for the night, only to be awoken at 4.55 am this morning buy my better half informing me that the power had gone off. The cause; 1 very large Pohutakawa tree (a NZ native) that had split in half and landed in my front yard, taking power, phone and cable TV/network with it :frowning: Another smaller tree also split and crashed against the house, fortunately only taking out the TV antenna.
A fellow weather watcher not far up the road recorded wind peaks of 127 Kph.

All that seemed quite trivial when I heard that a tornado had demolished a house in a South Island rural area, killing 1 occupant (found 200 metres away) and putting another adult and 2 children in hospital. The surviving adult and children were found between 50 and 75 metres from where the house used to stand.

Perhaps a small taste of what others have experienced lately.

:pale:

wow!
actualy, it was Taranaki, north island, that had the tornado :wink:
demolished a house

Yes - the first details I heard were only sketchy detail on the radio, I heard the town name, but missed the rest.

Apparently it was the strongest (known) tornado ever seen in NZ.

The occupant found 200m away was the mother, who has survived but is in critical condition in hospital. The deceased lady was the grand-mother. :frowning:

Expecting snow down to 300m in Wellington today. 8O

lots of snow in eastern south island now by the sounds of it!
see:
http://www.templeton.gen.nz/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8272#8272