Southern skies were ablaze with hundreds of lightning strikes yesterday afternoon.
The meteorological mayhem also included a waterspout in Central Otago, which terrified a motorist - and the MetService says the wild weather is not over yet.
MetService meteorologist Ravi Kandula said at the peak of the storm at 5pm, following a severe thunderstorm warning for Southland, the region was getting 450-500 strikes an hour.
There was a "really wide spread" of strikes through Central Otago, Southland, western Clutha, parts of the Southern Lakes district and as far west as Tuatapere, he said.
While the weather was expected to be generally fine this morning, similar conditions this afternoon meant MetService predicted a moderate risk of thunderstorms again in all areas that experienced them yesterday.
But it was not the thunder and lightning that was the biggest worry for Otago Daily Times photographer Linda Robertson yesterday.
As she was driving from Wanaka to Dunedin with her son about 5pm, a severe thunderstorm began to form between Roxburgh and Alexandra along with what appeared to be a tornado.
She described a "funnel of spinning air" coming down from the clouds, which dissipated before hitting the ground.
"It was coming down towards the ground and we didn’t know what the hell we were going to do if it did touch the ground because we thought we would be in trouble.
"It was in the sky with a curved tail on it and you can see the wind spinning around making that twisting motion as it’s coming down through Fruitlands."
The storm also brought hail and heavy rain.
"It was absolutely pouring down. We had to pull over because we couldn’t see."
After taking a look at the photo, Mr Kandula said rather than a tornado, it looked "suspiciously like a waterspout".
The columns of water were not uncommon in conditions such as yesterday’s, he said.
"With the rising currents and a bit of tight local circulation, it’s a conducive environment."
