Winter Weather Watch

The late winter polar blast sweeping up the country has been the topic of conversation throughout NZ today, especially considering that 'snow' (or was that graupel?) was purported to have fallen in central Auckland today for the first time in 80 odd years.
Well we did not get snow at work today, but we did get one helluva hailstorm at 3:15.

It was pretty spectacular. I was a bit worried for the shade sail for a bit there...  After 10 mins the melted hail began to pour out from the sails - it was almost as loud as the hailstorm itself was.

So we may not have had snow, but if you squint your eyes a bit this hail could almost pass?
Unless you click on the pics to make them bigger...