Icy pellets get residents in Toa Payoh, Bishan and Braddell excitedICE SHOWER: Stomper Patrick sent in this photo of small pieces of hail falling in his garden in Braddell. -- PHOTO: STOMP/PATRICK
PARTS of Singapore were pelted with hailstones during yesterday afternoon's heavy downpour.
The weatherman confirmed that these pellets of ice were reported in central Singapore between 3.15pm and 3.45pm.
Roughly three-quarters the size of a five-cent coin, they caused a stir among those living or working in Bishan and Toa Payoh.
Hailstones, formed in thunderstorm clouds, usually melt before they hit the ground, but strong downward gusts of wind sometimes send them to the ground before they melt.
A managing director, who wanted to be known only as Mr Goh, was in his office in a flatted factory in Braddell Road when the hail started falling. He said he thought at first it was just raining heavily.
'But the sound of the rain was different - it sounded more like solid things were falling,' he said.
Going out to the corridor in front of his office, he and his staff saw tiny bead-like objects bouncing about on the ground as the rain poured down.
They became excited when they realised the beads were solid pieces of ice which melted as soon as they picked them up.
Mr Goh, who said it was the first time he had seen this weather phenomenon, added that at first, there was 'quite a lot of ice' but, as the minutes went by, they petered out and only rain fell.
He reckoned the hailstones fell for about 10 minutes.
Another witness, IT consultant Stuyvesant Lim, 35, was observing a quiet game of chess at a Residents' Committee Centre in Bishan East when he heard a commotion outside.
He said: 'I thought it was kids throwing ice from the block. Then we realised it was falling from the sky.'
He realised another thing - that had the hailstones been bigger, the windscreens of cars could have been damaged.
Mrs Evelyn Chan, 53, who runs a machine tools business with her husband but was home yesterday, said the strangely 'hazy' atmosphere made her step out of her kitchen into the backyard of her house in Carmichael Road, off Braddell Road.
She said: 'When I looked at the ground, I saw crystals. I thought it was snow. But when I picked up a piece, I realised it was ice.'
The last time hail fell here was in July last year.
PARTS of Singapore were pelted with hailstones during yesterday afternoon's heavy downpour.
The weatherman confirmed that these pellets of ice were reported in central Singapore between 3.15pm and 3.45pm.
Roughly three-quarters the size of a five-cent coin, they caused a stir among those living or working in Bishan and Toa Payoh.
Hailstones, formed in thunderstorm clouds, usually melt before they hit the ground, but strong downward gusts of wind sometimes send them to the ground before they melt.
A managing director, who wanted to be known only as Mr Goh, was in his office in a flatted factory in Braddell Road when the hail started falling. He said he thought at first it was just raining heavily.
'But the sound of the rain was different - it sounded more like solid things were falling,' he said.
Going out to the corridor in front of his office, he and his staff saw tiny bead-like objects bouncing about on the ground as the rain poured down.
They became excited when they realised the beads were solid pieces of ice which melted as soon as they picked them up.
Mr Goh, who said it was the first time he had seen this weather phenomenon, added that at first, there was 'quite a lot of ice' but, as the minutes went by, they petered out and only rain fell.
He reckoned the hailstones fell for about 10 minutes.
Another witness, IT consultant Stuyvesant Lim, 35, was observing a quiet game of chess at a Residents' Committee Centre in Bishan East when he heard a commotion outside.
He said: 'I thought it was kids throwing ice from the block. Then we realised it was falling from the sky.'
He realised another thing - that had the hailstones been bigger, the windscreens of cars could have been damaged.
Mrs Evelyn Chan, 53, who runs a machine tools business with her husband but was home yesterday, said the strangely 'hazy' atmosphere made her step out of her kitchen into the backyard of her house in Carmichael Road, off Braddell Road.
She said: 'When I looked at the ground, I saw crystals. I thought it was snow. But when I picked up a piece, I realised it was ice.'
The last time hail fell here was in July last year.
