Thunderstorm Outlook
Issued at 7:11pm 13/06/2026
Valid from 7:11pm 13/06/2026 to Midnight 14/06/2026
Reviewed at 7:10pm Saturday - no changes. A front moves northwards over the west of the lower South Island during the second half of Sunday. There is an associated low risk of embedded thunderstorms for central and northern Fiordland during the afternoon and evening, and for southern Westland at night. There is minimal risk of thunderstorms or significant convection elsewhere during this time.
Severe Thunderstorm Criteria
In New Zealand, MetService classifies a thunderstorm as severe if one or more of the following criteria are met:
Heavy rain (from thunderstorms):
Rainfall of 25mm/h, or more.
Large hail:
Hailstones 20mm in diameter, or larger.
Strong wind gusts (from thunderstorms):
Gusts of 110km/h (60 knots) or stronger.
Damaging tornadoes:
Fujita F1 - i.e. wind speeds greater than 116km/h (63 knots) or stronger.
Note: some tornadic systems such as funnel clouds, waterspouts and small land-based tornadoes are possible with thunderstorms that may not be classified as severe.
