Northland Beach Hailed by Freak Storm
Northland Fishermen Stunned by “Winter Wonderland” Hailstorm on Remote Beach
Ripiro Beach, New Zealand – Two Northland fishermen experienced a sight they’ll never forget after a freak hail storm transformed a section of Ripiro beach into a winter wonderland. David Bishop, of Kerikeri, and his mate Bryce Taylor, of Glinks Gully, were wrapping up a day of fishing near the entrance of kaipara Harbour on Saturday around 5 PM when they encountered the surreal scene.
Their route home took them around Pouto Point,past the historic lighthouse,and north along Ripiro Beach towards Dargaville. Just a few hundred meters north of the lighthouse, they were stopped in their tracks.
“When we were fishing we heard a bit of thunder, but no rain or anything,” Bishop recounted. “So we finished up and came around the corner past the lighthouse,and then it was like,’Holy s***!’ We just couldn’t believe it.”
For several hundred meters, the beach was wholly covered in hail, stretching from the water’s edge up into the dunes.
“There was not a soul there, all the fishermen had left,” bishop said.”What a sight. It looked like snow at first but it was definitely hail.A lot of it. In places it would’ve been a good two inches (5cm) deep.”
Bishop noted that the phenomenon appeared to be isolated to a specific area. ”There was no hail around the lighthouse or further north on the beach,” he explained. “So it was just in that one random area, which was weird. It was really eerie.”
As a frequent visitor to the beach, Bishop was amazed by the unusual weather event. “I spend a lot of time fishing on the beach but I’ve never seen anything like that before. I’ve seen some beautiful dawns on Ripiro Beach, but nothing as stunning as that.”
Ripiro Beach, stretching 110km from Pouto Point to Maunganui bluff, north of Dargaville, is New Zealand’s longest driveable beach.
MetService meteorologist Silvia Martino confirmed that while they didn’t directly detect hail, conditions were ripe for such an event. ”yesterday evening and overnight, we’ve had some very heavy showers producing large amounts of hail, enough to blanket the ground in white,” she said. “As those showers were just one narrow line, some peopel will have seen nothing at all. But if you were right underneath that line of heavy showers, people got