More wild weather, including tornadoes, could strike over the next 24 hours, following the brunt of a twister touching down in west Auckland this afternoon.
Powerlines were down and on fire, a house was struck by lightning and at least 13 properties were damaged when the tornado ripped through Avondale and Te Atatu South at about 1pm.
Most of the affected houses sustained roof damage, others had fences and trees down and windows smashed.
A Fire Service incident control unit has been established at the intersection of Ash St and Wairau Ave, Avondale - the roads thought to have been worst affected.
WeatherWatch analyst Richard Green the tornado was "relatively minor" compared to May's twister in Albany, which killed 37-year-old Benedict Dacayan.
Most of the damage, too, seemed minor, he said.
"Fortunately it was short lived because if it had been a longer electrical storm, who knows what chaos could have resulted."
\Thunderstorms had been forecast for the city this afternoon but not tornadoes.
"The system that was being looked at just revved up a little more as it passed over Auckland, which produced the tornado.
"It was basically just very warm air and cold air mixing."
Mr Green said another "disturbance" was approaching New Zealand from the Tasman Sea, which meant there was a risk of further tornadoes in western areas of the North Island for the next 24 hours.
MetService has issued severe weather warnings for Southland, Otago, Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay and said gale force winds could spread over much of the North Island tomorrow.
Snow is expected to low levels over the deep south tomorrow, with the possibility of heavy falls above 300 metres.
Winds are also expected to reach gale-force for coastal parts of Southland and Otago on Monday and Tuesday, creating potential blizzard conditions near the coastal hills.
MetService advised farmers in affected areas to move vulnerable stock to sheltered locations.
Wild weather has ripped boats from their moorings, damaged power lines and caused havoc for an Auckland yacht race this morning, while the Metservice warns parts of the South Island could be in for a blizzard.
A massive gust of wind tore through the endurance race near the finishing line in the Rangitoto Channel at about 1.30am.
Auckland coast guard duty officer Katherine Andrews said it ripped the masts off two yachts and caused another to run aground.
Metservice has issued severe weather warnings for Southland, Otago, Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay and said gales-force winds could spread over much of the North Island tomorrow.
Snow is expected to low levels over the far south tomorrow, with the possibility of heavy falls above 300 metres.
Winds are also expected to reach gale-force for coastal parts of Southland and Otago on Monday and Tuesday, making for potentially blizzard conditions about the coastal hills.
Metservice advised farmers in affected areas to move vulnerable stock to sheltered locations.