NZ Weather Forum

Taken 13 May 2011 at Punakaiki in Westland. I think this clip is significant as we rarely see golf ball hail documented in this country.

I had a look back at the charts for this day and it looked a typical winter storm set up. I would say this hail would have developed on a rotating updraught.

Yes. Some good chunks falling from the sky. Interesting to see what the weather situ was for the day.

Midday BOM chart.

Gees good size alright,would it had been that second trough line just off to the west which produced that large hail??

Punakaiki's a little further north of Westland btw, in the Buller (boarding Grey) district, halfway between Greymouth and Westport. Although those towns don't appear to have been affected as much, Dale has several good reports from Runanga of torrential rain, flooding, thunder and hail throughout that day (starting here). The timing fits in well with that decaying cold front on the synoptic map.

Ah yes, thanks Nev, you just did a lot of hard work for me! I have been trying to find those photos everywhere, they are required because of the last 2 flood events here, last month. The water levels were exactly the same but the big difference this time was that houses further down flooded whereas in those images, that was effectively the worst of it.

Back to topic, Punakaiki (Pancake Rocks) is about 30 minutes North along the coast road & I certainly remember the day well for many reasons, one outlined above. Although that day we never had hail to that size, I did see it come close the other week during flood #2.. they were making some pretty serious bangs on the roof at 1 point.
Couldn't tell you how common it would be here in Buller/Westland as little villages and farms are dotted everywhere but suspect it would be quite prevalent especially with good hard winter setups.