Australia Weather News

A dumping of hail has left parts of Coffs Harbour, on the NSW Mid North Coast, resembling a snowfield overnight.

The city's marina precinct was one of the hardest hit by the storm, which swept across the city around 6:00pm.

"The hail was about the size of split peas, it was so tiny and so much of it; I've never seen anything like it before ever," distribution manager of the Coffs Harbour Fisherman's Co-operative Joshua Cook said.

"It was about a foot, foot and half deep in some spots."

A winter wonderland

The build-up of the hail from the storm left the ground covered in a white blanket that could have been mistaken for snow.

Mr Cook said the temptation proved too irresistible for his staff.

"We all ran out the front and had a little snow fight and made snow angels in the car park," he said.

The co-op was lucky to escape any major damage, however Mr Cook said some whirlybird ventilators were blown off the roof during the storm.

Damage was minor

Coffs Harbour SES said the storm caused only minor damage across the region, however one commercial premises within the harbour precinct suffered a partially collapsed roof under the weight of the hail.

SES commander Bill Roffey said the storm was short and sharp, but intense.

"Just in the sheer volume of hail, I looked at the radar when it came through and there were black patches, which is normally very dense rain, but it turned out to be hail," Mr Roffey said.

While the hail was heavy, only 21.6mm of rain fell during the storm — the first significant rain in months.

Mr Roffey said it was a stark change from their work in recent weeks.

"A couple of weeks ago, we were helping the Rural Fire Service here with fires," he said.