A funnel-shaped cloud spotted in Hawke’s Bay as a storm approached may have touched the ground and become a tornado, but it didn’t do any damage.

The front on Sunday afternoon brought much-needed rain, along with some thunder and lightning, but it was the funnel cloud that lit up social media in the aftermath.

Several readers sent Hawke’s Bay Today their pictures of the funnel cloud.

The cloud formed south-west of Hastings, near Raukawa and Pakipaki, around 5pm, MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker said.

Bakker said it wasn’t clear if it had touched the ground but the conditions had enough energy to suggest it could have.

There were no calls that suggested there had been damage to Fire and Emergency NZ.

Bakker said the front had delivered 11mm of rain to Hastings over the following seven hours and 8mm to Napier.

The Takapau Plains got the most rain, with 17mm falling from 3pm Sunday to 7am Monday morning.

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