AUCKLAND (Sachin Sharma) - The drought conditions Auckland faced this year are not considered conducive for formation of Tornadoes.
This is the reason that meteorologists are surprised with the tornado that ripped through an East Tamaki shopping centre Saturday morning.
New Zealand witnesses seven to ten tornadoes every year. Tornado in East Tamaki, a suburb of Aukland, has torn the roofs off houses and dismantled front wall of a sanitary ware showroom.
Metservice duty forecaster Heath Gullery has said that drought conditions in Auckland this year are not conducive for formation of tornado
"Drought implicitly means there hasn't been a lot of rain or thunderstorms to produce a tornado".
He, however, said, that there has been quite an unstable air mass across the upper North Island for last couple of days that has been conducive to tornadoes.
Around a dozen employees of a sanitary ware showroom had narrow escape as tornado dismantled the front wall of the showroom. According to a sales consultant of showroom, the employees had to hid beneath the desks to save them.