PHOENIX — Parts of the Valley saw rainfall and hail on Monday afternoon as winter weather moved through. Rain chances continue into the evening hours as well.
FORECAST: Showers and thunderstorms to kick off the week
Video from Arizona Department of Transportation cameras showed white blanketing parts of Loop 101 and State Route 51 in north Phoenix as drivers slowly traversed the roads.
Another good shot of the hail accumulation. #phxtraffic pic.twitter.com/BjVVAjq2tg
— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) December 9, 2019
A funnel cloud was also spotted over Phoenix skies north of 32nd Street and Campbell Avenue after 3 p.m.
People all over the valley were shocked at the hail that came out of nowhere.
“I that snow? And I heard the sound and I was like snow doesn't make that sound. It was hail,” exclaimed Carrie Boyd Stoudemire, who is the mother of former Suns All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire.
Carrie even tried to eat the hail, which looked like the ice from Sonic restaurant. “I got me a handful And I ate it like it was straight ice from the refrigerator,” she said. “It was good.”
For Valley kids unfamiliar with snow, the hail was cause for celebration. Kids were seen sledding and even forming a hail angel.
On the Paradise Valley Golf Course, snowbirds Bob and Marge Copp barely made it into the clubhouse. “We hurried the last hole,” said Marge.
The couple had just escaped nearly a foot of snow in Syracuse, New York. “I said, 'oh my goodness it looks just like snow.' It was coming down very heavy,” said Marge. “Yeah the practice green was all white,” said Bob.
Parents pulled off the road to snap photos of their kids in the rare weather phenomenon.
“I just wanted to show my mom in New York that we get snow, well hail or whatever this is,” said Sam Mueller, alongside her son Oscar.
