The damaged awning of a house in Tabuan area, Kuching, caused by the hailstones.
Ellyn shows some of the ice pellets collected from outside her house following the storm.
KUCHING: Hailstones briefly rained down on several areas here and in Kota Samarahan during a thunderstorm yesterday afternoon.
The unexpected incident happened around 4pm and lasted for just a few minutes, with no reports of injury or major damage received.
Photos and videos of the hailstones – some larger in diameter than old 50 sen coins – were quick to make their rounds on social media and WhatsApp groups.
While some netizens reported minor damage to their vehicles, others posted photos of damaged awnings at their respective homes.
Henry Gunya, who stays along the Kuching-Samarahan Expressway, said his family was shocked and surprised because it was their first time experiencing it.
“I was relaxing at home when I heard unusual and scary noises outside the house and on top of the roof.
“It was not the sound of just any storm. When I looked outside and saw tiny ice cubes falling from the sky, I was naturally quite anxious,” he related to The Borneo Post.
According to Henry, his daughter Ellyn had to drive one of the family’s cars beneath the porch for fear that the larger-sized hailstones would damage the vehicle and windscreens.
He said when the whole thing ended several minutes later, his daughter went outside to collect some of the hailstones for the family to take photos of as a remembrance of their first experience.
Though an uncommon occurrence in the state, such incidents have been known to happen, with one taking place in the city in September 2012.
Last Friday, the sleepy town of Kuala Lipis in Pahang was rocked by a massive hailstorm which lasted for about 20 minutes, while in March this year, a similar incident was reported to have happened in Ipoh, shocking many albeit not causing injury or serious damage.
A photo courtesy of a netizen shows the ice cube-size hailstones which rained down yesterday.