VIOLENT STORM

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 47, Issue 2665, 3 September 1937, Page 4

VIOLENT STORM

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING DISTURBANCE OVER NGATEA. An exceptionally heavy and violent thunderstorm broke over the Hauraki Plains about three o’clock on Wednesday afternoon. The day had been very steamy and oppressive, but beyond that there was no warning until about 2.30 large black clouds came up from the direction of Kaihere.

At first it was thought that the storm would pass Ngatea, but it broke violently directly over the village. In the next hour there were 20 or 30 flashes of lightning followed immediately by thunder and torrential rain. No severe shocks were suffered by anyone in the town, though several minor ones were sustained, particularly by users of the telephone. Storms of this type are not very frequent on the Plains. Usually there is a north-east wind and steady rain, but the storm on Wednesday came up from the south-west with practically no warning.

Although Ngatea was the centre of the storm, Waitakaruru was not touched. Residents of the west part of the Plains state that they could see the disturbance cross diagonally from Kaihere through Ngatea towards Thames.