MANILA, Philippines – Hailstones the size of corn kernels, rained briefly across two villages in Parañaque City on Tuesday afternoon, residents said.
The hailstones started falling on Marcelo village around 2:40 p.m. after lightning and thunder. It lasted for about two minutes, said Eduard Blanco, executive assistant to the Parañaque City mayor.
A janitor saw hailstones falling over the Fourth Estate village and around the Parañaque city hall in San Antonio village, for five minutes, said Lloyd Palconan, city information officer.
No one was hurt and there were no reports of damage to property because of the hailstones, Palconan said.
Jelly Gacute, a janitor, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) that she saw the bits of ice hitting the city hall’s window.
Gacute said people inside city hall who saw the hailstones said: “Ay, himala [It’s a miracle].”
“They thought of it as a spectacle, imagining snow in the Philippines,” she said.
“We were also afraid, we thought the strong wind could become a whirlwind,” she said.
The rain stopped but the sky remained overcast, she said.