The skies over northern New Zealand were mostly quiet last night despite a thunderstorm watch by MetService that included the risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. 

So, what is the different between a thunderstorm WATCH and a thunderstorm WARNING?  

MetService has just introduced a new Severe Thunderstorm Warning Service.

It’s to help better track thunderstorms and give New Zealanders appropriate alerts to thunderstorms and potential tornadoes.

So while WeatherWatch.co.nz only believed there was a ‘slight risk’ for thunderstorms in Auckland in our forecast, we still needed to mention the severe weather watch from MetService – alerting the public that basically we have all the right ingredients for something a bit rougher…and judging by the lightning tracker yesterday evening I’m not surprised a watch was issued.  There were well over 2000 strikes out to sea by yesterday afternoon.

Incidently, WeatherWatch believes there’s a higher risk for thunderstorms in Auckland from Saturday PM to Sunday AM.

You’ll find all the details on this new thunderstorm warning service here.