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Story: Tāwhirimātea – the weather

Lightning

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Lightning

Lightning flashes across the night sky at Lake Alexandrina in the Mackenzie Country. Uira is the term for ordinary lighting, kohara refers to zigzag flashes, and kapo is a flash here and there, all around the horizon.

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by Carl Walrond

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How to cite this page

Basil Keane, Tāwhirimātea – the weather – Wind and storms, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/8278/lightning (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Basil Keane, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 March 2022.