(BIVN) – A short period of hail in Hilo preceded a burst of heavy rain on Sunday afternoon shortly after 2 p.m.

Hail is a very rare occurrence on Hawaii Island, especially at lower elevations.

The National Weather Service reported today that the island atmosphere would be a little unstable today, “which will allow some showers to become briefly heavy.”

An upper level trough now over the eastern end of the state has brought some instability to the atmosphere, forecasters said. “With the instability over the Big Island,” the National Weather Service predicted, “there will be a chance of thunderstorms over the higher elevations of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa along with the potential of locally heavy showers.”

The hail fell on the south-end of Hilo for about 3 or 4 minutes before turning to rain.