Tornado downs trees in Leeston - yesterday.

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'Tornado' downs trees in Leeston
OLIVIA CARVILLE Last updated 08:01 26/03/2012

What was believed to be a tornado tore a path through a Leeston property yesterday, downing trees and hurling branches up to 50 metres.

Did you see the tornado? Send your pictures to reporters@press.co.nz.

Leeston farmer Alan Manhire, 43, was shifting sheep just before 4.30pm yesterday when "everything went white".

"It was unreal," he said.

"A band of rain and hail came p...... down and then it just blew like sh.., but the wind wasn't making any noise, it was bizarre."

A decade-old willow tree, taller than a lamppost, was brought to the ground, along with about 20 other trees on his property.

Some branches were snapped off and thrown about 50m, he said.

Manhire thought his car was going to turn over. A friend, who was trying to drive a four-wheel-drive with eight sheep on a trailer could barely move.

The tornado lasted about three minutes and then "everything went dead calm". Manhire estimated the winds would have reached up to 200kmh.

"It was about three times stronger than one of Canterbury's strong nor'westers. I was sh...... myself," he said.

Manhire, who is in the process of selling his property, had four people viewing his home for an open day yesterday and said no-one could believe what had happened.

His house wasn't damaged by the tornado but he "knew someone was going to get injured if it had carried on".

MetService forecaster Hordur Thordarson said he did not know of a tonardo in Leeston but a "fairly intense thunderstorm passed to the south of Christchurch at about 4.30pm".

The storm started near Fairlie and gradually intensified as it moved towards Leeston.

Thordarson predicted isolated winds could have reached about 100kmh.

He said it was the biggest storm in Christchurch recently.
Copied from the Press.
It was very very dark clouds over that way that neighbor and I could see very plainly and thought there was maybe a tornado in it somewhere. We were looking for the part that comes down a little bit first but couldn't see it from here. Never ever seen it so dark looking before.  Have photos but not yet downloaded.

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