A video of a tornado-like cloud hovering above an Auckland suburb has emerged on Facebook.
The phenomenon, known as a funnel cloud, is the same as a tornado except it does not touch the ground -- a reality Whangaparaoa locals will be pleased about.
Funnel clouds are often accompanied by a strong sucking sound.
Ken Wilson, who was in Whangaparoa at the time of the cloud's appearance and posted a video of it on Facebook, described the sound as "a really strong wind noise".
"I guess you could compare it to a swarm of bees," he said.
"I wasn't really worried because when I saw it, it was up quite high -- it wasn't down at ground level."
Mr Wilson says he only saw the funnel cloud in the sky above him for "a couple of minutes" -- but says he's seen other footage that suggests it actually began as a waterspout just off the coast of a neighbouring suburb.
"It looked like it started off in the water at the southern end of Arkles Bay, near the cliff there. It was spinning off in the water and it hit the cliff face and lifted up into the air."
Meanwhile, other reports suggest more than one waterspout was spotted today.
Sir Peter Blake Marine Education & Recreation Centre operations manager Chris Robertson told Fairfax that staff at a north Auckland centre counted three separate instances of the phenomenon.
Watch the video.
