Kate Breuer noted Auckland's hail, thunder and lightning was not quite like the conditions she was used to back home in the US.
"It's been years since I last saw hail and I'm excited. Auckland weather reeally is very different from LA weather."
MetService meteorologist Claire Flynn said the hail and thunderstorms were being caused by warm air mixing with a "cold pool" – a big pool of cold air that was sitting over the North Island high in the atmosphere.
She said when the warm air rises from near the earth's surface and hits the cold barrier, it can fall back down as thundery showers and hail.
She said while the recent burst of showers had moved through Waikato towards Taupō, Auckland residents can expect the unsettled weather to continue.
This could mean more hail and thunderstorms today and tomorrow with top temperatures of 16C.
NZME digital producer Ethan Sills earlier tweeted a picture showing his backyard blanketed in hail.
John Murphy also sent photos into the Herald showing a Greenlane car yard covered in fallen hail, resembling snow, while Ali Leonard meanwhile told the internet that she thought might need to delay his "furniture removal" job until tomorrow.
Mahir Hassan Saeed was another shocked by the sudden change in weather as he posted a video of hail falling on traffic.
