A lightning strike destroyed at tree in Inglewood on the corner of Konini and Rata streets.
In the space of three hours on Thursday morning, 1200 lightning strikes were recorded across New Zealand, waking many a little earlier than usual.
The strikes were counted between 3am and 6am and while most were offshore 84 were focused over land in Taranaki.
One strike, on the corner of Konini and Rata streets in Inglewood, even destroyed a tree, leaving debris spread over a large area of the reserve.
Inglewood was one of the worst hit by the passing storm, which dumped 32.5mm of rain in one hour in the town and 23.2mm in Brooklands, New Plymouth, during the same period.
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SUPPLIED/MetService
There were 1200 lightning strikes recorded between 3am-6am on Thursday, mostly offshore, though there were 84 strikes focused over land in Taranaki.
The power is also out to 185 homes in Inglewood, with Powerco estimating it would be back on at 1pm.
The severe storm woke thousands of residents throughout North Taranaki around 4am on Thursday with many reporting on social media that they heard huge claps of thunder that were seemed much closer and louder than usual.
MetService meteorologist Amy Rossiter said New Plymouth was directly under significant storm activity during that period which would have amplified the thunder associated with the lightning strikes.
The severe weather was associated with an unstable northwesterly flow, and a couple of embedded cold fronts, which affected northern and central New Zealand.
Rossiter said there would be a number of heavy isolated showers throughout the Thursday, and they were likely to intensify throughout the night.
The unstable westerlies would likely bring a further moderate risk of thunderstorms to Taranaki. Brief heavy rain and small hail could be expected with these thunderstorms.
The overnight rain, also caused a number of wastewater overflows, including a discharge into the Waiwhakaiho River that has the potential to affect public health.
The discharge only lasted for 15 minutes and was caused by high rainfall in the Glen Avon catchment, the New Plymouth District Council said in a statement.
The council also reported a consented discharge of treated wastewater from the Inglewood Oxidation Ponds to the Kurapete Stream as a result of high rainfall that has the potential to affect public health.
The overflow started at 12pm on Wednesday and was ongoing. There was also another overflow on Inglewood’s Konini St.
Warning signs are in place at all the affected sites.
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