SEVERE HAILSTORM.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5184, 28 September 1927, Page 2

SEVERE HAILSTORM.

DELUGE AT WAITAKARURU. HILLS APPEAR SNOWCLAD. A hailstorm of exceptional severity was experienced on the hills near Waitakaruru on Monday afternoon. It lasted about half an hour, but so heavy was the fall that even in open paddocks the ice did not melt until the middle of the following morning, while as late as, sundown hailstones could be found in depressions sheltered from the rays of the sun. For miles the hills appeared to be; covered with snow until about 9.30 a.m. The noise of the storm could be heard at Waitakaruru, miles away, and four men in a ear in the midst of the storm could not make their voices heard. They covered the windscreen of the car for fear that the glass would be broken. The hailstones were the size of wallnuts, and in flat, open places, they lay several inches deep, while against banks the piles were over a foot deep.

As far as can be ascertained no damage was done. Most of the, country is unoccupied scrub land. The ragged foliage shows the force of the hale.

The Thames Valley Power Board’s tree-planting gang were unable to work yesterday morning when the i ce began to melt, as the water poured down the hillsides in torrents. The streams were quickly swollen, and flooding was experienced for a short time on the flat land be.tween Waitakaruru and the hills.

Many parts of the Hauraki Plains experienced a hailstorm about the same time, but although the fall was heavier than usual it was slight in comparison.