An Auckland photographer captured an impressive sight he dubbed a sea "foamnado" at a beach on Auckland's west coast yesterday.
Matthew Davison was just south of Piha, near Taitomo Island, about 3pm when he spotted swirling winds whipping up large swathes of sea foam.
"I had never seen anything like it," he told 1News.
"I guess many things had to come together all at once... tide, wind and foam - plenty of it."
He said there were "a couple of others" also at the beach taking it all in.
Davison posted his footage to the NZ Stormchasers Facebook group with the caption: "Ever seen a foamnado?"
Others in the group gave their thoughts on the tornado-like swirls of sea foam.
"This is how I imagine it would be walking through the middle of the soaping spray at a car wash," one person wrote.
"I have never seen anything like this before, it is amazing," said another.
The phenomena came as severe gales and big swells hit much of the North Island's west coast on Saturday due to what MetService labelled a "deep low".
According to NIWA, wind gusts up to 111km/h were recorded in Auckland's Manukau Heads, with the Harbour Bridge closing for a time due to the gales.
Auckland's strong wind watch expired this morning at 3am as the low moves east away from the country.
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