A camping tent. Photo: Ruth Kuo
Four people have minor injuries after a suspected wind gust lifted a tent at a holiday park in the South Island town of Omarama.
A St John spokesperson said they received a call just before 1.30pm about a "weather related incident", and responded with an ambulance.
Four patients, all in minor conditions, were treated at the scene.
Metservice meterologist John Law said a tornado is "definitely not out of the question".
There is a very active weather situation across the whole country, with thunderstorm and rain warnings in place in several parts of country, mostly on the East Coast of the North Island, he said.
"Even down across the South Island we've seen some really active showers and thunderstorms."
Law said although there was no record of strong winds or tornadoes in the area, such weather phenomena can be highly localised.
He said "really strong, gusty straight line winds can be enough to lift things up like tents", and were common during thunderstorms such as have been crossing the country throughout the day.
It would be difficult to determine whether the incident had been caused by a gust of wind tornado without seeing footage from the scene, he said.
Regardless, "both can be pretty strong, both can cause damage, and both situations are entirely possible in the set up we've got at the moment", he said.
A severe thunderstorm watch remains in place for Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Marlborough and Nelson until 9pm tonight, while heavy rain watches are in place for Wairoa District, Gisborne/Tairawhiti south of Tolaga Bay, Hawke's Bay south of Wairoa, Tararua and Wairarapa until Tuesday evening. The heavy rain watch for Marlborough expires at 9pm Monday.
