A Kapiti Coast teacher says he experienced the strongest winds of his life this afternoon, after gusts caused damage to around a dozen vehicles.
Earlier today, MetService had strong wind watches and warnings in place for parts of the country including the Kapiti Coast, where wind gusts were forecast to reach up to 100km/h.
Steve Devine, 61, told 1News he parked in his normal spot facing the sea at Mitre 10 MEGA in Kapiti around 1pm today when he noticed the wind begin to pick up.
"Just as I was starting to turn off the car, the wind started picking up and I suddenly saw this sort of mini tornado thing just suddenly happen," he explained.
"I thought 'oh yeah this is pretty strange' and it got worse and worse, then suddenly the whole of the windscreen was just covered in brown dirt, debris and stone."
The Kapiti Coast College teacher said he realised at that point it was "actually far more serious than any wind I'd ever been involved in".
"I've spent a lot of time over the Wairarapa, and it's quite heavy winds there, but this was the heaviest wind I've ever been involved in," he said.
He said he "tried to duck down" in his vehicle, but still had his seatbelt on.
The Waikanae beach local said he saw at least four other cars parked near his had their windows smashed, and said the staff were "very helpful".
"There was the Mitre 10 staff all around and actually there was a few people that weren't in the cars at the time, because they were obviously shopping," he said.
A Mitre 10 MEGA Kapiti spokesperson confirmed around a dozen vehicles were damaged during the strong wind gust, including customer cars, trades vehicles and staff cars.
They said some staff members assisted people in the carpark, and took photos.
MetService meteorologist Oscar Shiviti said the forecaster could not confirm or deny if the wind gust pictured was in fact a "mini tornado" at this stage.
He said there was a wind warning in place at the time for the area.
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