Bethlehem residents were astounded to find crackling thunder and a hailstorm early on Friday evening left a white coating across the ground, with one motorist saying it looked like midwinter in the South Island.

“I’ve never heard thunder like it in my whole life,” Bethlehem resident Pat Liddle said following the hailstorm in the Tauranga suburb.

“The thunder was absolutely loud and crackling. It was amazing.”

Hail outside Aspire Gym in Bethlehem. Photo / Travis Carter.

She said she was indoors when it started about 6pm.

“I was looking at my windows, because I thought they would be bashed by the wind at the same time. The wind was blowing the hail as it came down.”

Hail coated cars and carparks outside Woolworths at Bethlehem Town Centre. Photo / Oscar Hampton

Bethlehem couple George and Raewyn Phillips were at home in the Bob Owens Retirement Village on Carmichael Rd when the hailstorm began.

“It started off with one humungous bang,” George said. “It sounded like an atom bomb going off. We weren’t sure if it was a thunderstorm or a big gun.

“And then about five minutes later, it started to rain. And then the hail came through. We noticed how thick it was and falling on Carmichael Rd, like snow. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”

Hail on Carmichael Rd, Bethlehem on Friday evening. Photo / George Phillips.

He said the weather episode lasted between five and ten minutes, with the hail visible on the ground for at least half an hour afterwards.

“The cars parked on the road still had ice hailstones all around on their windows at 6.20pm,” Raewyn said.

“There was hail still here then on our patio. It was all white out there.”

Hail in a garden at Bob Owens Retirement Village, Carmichael Rd, Bethlehem. Photo / George Phillips.

She said the hailstones were about the size of a little fingernail.

“It was spectacular,” George said.

George and Raewyn said three fire trucks were called to the village at about 6.30pm.

Fire trucks attending a call out at Bob Owens Retirement Village, Carmichael Rd, Bethlehem. Photo / George Phillips

“Our neighbour’s unit had set the alarm off with water going through the light fittings and flooding into her apartment,” Raewyn said.

“The firemen came up, the electrician came and dismantled the light fitting, and the plumber was coming. The water was only coming through just into her apartment and set off the fire alarm.”

Oscar Hampton and Sophie Stewart were driving to Bethlehem along Cambridge Rd.

A thick layer of hail coated car parks and vehicles at Bethlehem Town Centre on Friday evening. Photo / Oscar Hampton

“At quarter past five on the Takitimu Toll Road from the Mount into Tauriko Crossing it just started to rain really heavy out of nowhere, with crazy lightning and thunder,” Hampton said.

“Probably about 20 minutes later we were driving just up towards Cambridge Rd on State Highway 29, and it started hailing while we were all in traffic.”

“It started out reasonably light. And then it picked up crazy out of nowhere and was really hammering down,” Hampton said.

“By the time we got to the top of the road at the intersection of State Highway 29 where it turns right into Cambridge Rd, it looked like the road was covered in snow. It was completely white.

“We were driving down Cambridge Rd towards Bethlehem, and that entire street – all the houses – it looked like it was mid-winter Christchurch. It looked like snow everywhere."

Hail at the corner of Cambridge Rd, looking towards Sycamore Rise.  Photo / Sophie Stewart.

A Google Streetview screenshot of the corner of Cambridge Rd, showing the usual winter view looking towards Sycamore Rise.  Photo / Google Streetview

“It looked like mid-winter in the South Island. About three cars pulled off to the side with their hazards on, not wanting to keep driving in it,” Hampton said.

“It was pretty much stop-and-go down the entire street. There weren’t many cars because no one wanted to get any kind of speed.”

He said when they eventually reached the main SH2/Moffat Rd roundabout in Bethlehem “it was all completely iced over on the oncoming lane”.

Hail at Bethlehem Town Centre. Photo / Sophie Stewart

“We were coming to a stop, and my foot was flat on the brakes, and it just kept sliding like it had just completely iced over the street.

“That was just completely…. like…I almost lost control of the vehicle. It was just going off in any direction it felt like," Hampton said.

The Bethlehem Town Centre carpark outside Woolworths on Friday evening. Photo / Oscar Hampton

“And then we finally pull up at Woolworths [in Bethlehem Town Centre] and make a run for it so we can get some photos. So, then, by the time we walked in [to Woolworths] to pick up dinner we noticed everything in Woolworths was just completely flooding.”

“That first foyer where the shopping trolleys are - that had a waterfall as soon as you got past the doors. You had to run through that.

“By the time we got there, they were stopping people from coming inside. And there was way more water coming through pretty much every part of the roof inside over the checkouts.

“And anywhere we could see, it was just leaking really bad.”

Hail on the ground at Bethlehem Town Centre on Friday evening. Photo / Oscar Hampton

Hampton said by the time they went back to their car; the rain had eased up “quite a bit”.

“We got to the main Bethlehem roundabout again and it had all pretty much disappeared. The rain had just washed away, and all the hail had melted.

“So, it was a matter of about 10 minutes, and it had disappeared, like it had never happened,” Hampton said.

Travis Carter said he had a phone call from a mate who had a video from his mate who told him there was snow in Bethlehem.

“So, we went over there to check it out.”

Hail outside Aspire Gym in Bethlehem. Photo / Travis Carter.

Carter said the friends found a thick white layer outside Aspire Gym that initially looked like snow but was made up of tiny white balls.

“There was also some outside Jetts Gym.”

Fire and Emergency New Zealand received calls to attend locations in Bethlehem and Tauriko at 5.53pm, 6pm and 6.19pm with fire crews from Tauranga, Greerton, and Mount Maunganui stations.

Bethlehem Town Centre and Woolworths were unable to be reached for comment.