{"id":135771,"date":"2025-11-15T04:24:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T04:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/135771\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T04:24:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T04:24:09","slug":"severe-hailstorm-forces-delays-to-nz-cup-meet-at-christchurchs-riccarton-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/135771\/","title":{"rendered":"Severe hailstorm forces delays to NZ Cup meet at Christchurch\u2019s Riccarton Park"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img  alt=\"Some racegoers struggled to stay on their feet in the icy conditions, with one social media user reporting &quot;at least three race day dresses kiss[ed] the dirt\/hail&quot;. Photo \/ Sky Sport\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Some racegoers struggled to stay on their feet in the icy conditions, with one social media user reporting &#8220;at least three race day dresses kiss[ed] the dirt\/hail&#8221;. Photo \/ Sky Sport<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">Other racegoers could be seen rushing for cover, with some opting for marquees and others holding chairs above their heads.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">Some could be seen making the most of the adverse weather, taking the opportunity to mould snowballs out of the ice and throw them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">Another Herald reporter at the ground said what started as a beautiful day in Christchurch clouded over, then \u201cthe skies just opened\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cI\u2019ve never seen hail like this in my life. It just went on and on, huge hailstones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">\u201c[There\u2019s] a lot of very wet, cold people trying to get inside and under cover, it\u2019s just miserable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Racegoers could be seen rushing for cover, with some opting for marquees and others holding chairs above their heads. Photo \/ Ajay Berry\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Racegoers could be seen rushing for cover, with some opting for marquees and others holding chairs above their heads. Photo \/ Ajay Berry<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">They said there was a mass exodus of spectators as the races faced delays.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cThe people up in the members\u2019 stand look pretty cozy and they\u2019ll probably stay if the races continue &#8230; but we\u2019re abandoning because we\u2019ve all got soaking wet feet, we\u2019ve been splashed and it\u2019s freezing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of hypothermic-looking people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">A social media user said the races \u201cgot hammered\u201d by the storm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cSaw at least three race day dresses kiss the dirt\/hail,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Racing was delayed for about 40 minutes before resuming as stewards checked the weather and the track in between races, for safety reasons. Photo \/ Sky Sport\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Racing was delayed for about 40 minutes before resuming as stewards checked the weather and the track in between races, for safety reasons. Photo \/ Sky Sport<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">Hail the size of 50c coins has been reported elsewhere in the Canterbury region after the sudden and severe thunderstorm, destroying glasshouses and covering lawns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">Some residents said cars have been damaged by the falling ice in Timaru.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">One central Christchurch resident told the Herald the weather had \u201cgone crazy\u201d and she expressed concern for her skylight as hail pelted the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cThe hail is no longer there, but it\u2019s still pissing with rain,\u201d the woman said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rVZUAWgtAFijHNuRNP\" style=\"display:none\">MetService lifted a thunderstorm warning for the Christchurch and Selwyn areas at 2.50pm, after lifting its warning for two other South Island spots earlier this afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some racegoers struggled to stay on their feet in the icy conditions, with one social media user reporting&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1975,4487,50545,8278,10542,16492,92871,27253,92870,8223,92872,92869,92867,101,5829,9862,111,43,139,69,1523,8143,92868,381,40438,25261,2848,1361,165,61,102,80],"class_list":["post-135771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-at","tag-christchurch","tag-christchurchs","tag-conditions","tag-cup","tag-delays","tag-drenched","tag-endured","tag-finery","tag-forces","tag-freak","tag-frocks","tag-hailstorm","tag-left","tag-many","tag-meet","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-over","tag-park","tag-racegoers","tag-region","tag-riccarton","tag-rolled","tag-severe","tag-that","tag-their","tag-to","tag-with","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}