Environment Canada says officials were surprised by a freak hailstorm that caused calamity on the Coquihalla yesterday.

Meteorologist Bobby Sehkon says temperatures are well above zero so forecasters weren’t expecting any freezing on the highway.

“What we see on our radar was actually nothing too much out of the ordinary. Around 11:30 a.m., we have a thunderstorm cell around that area which just produced a few lightning strikes and didn’t look to produce a lot of precipitation. Certainly it’s surprising.”

Drivers say the highway at the Lac Le Jeune exit was “a sheet of ice” mid-day yesterday, when a series of crashes at the Lac Le Jeune exit resulted in eight people being taken to hospital.

“Temperatures are obviously well above zero, so we weren’t really expecting much in the way of freezing on the road surface. But anytime you get these downbursts of hail it can certainly cool things down pretty good to cause slippery conditions,” Sehkon says. “It is a super unfortunate event that occurred.”

Sehkon says this is a tricky time of year for weather patterns, and he points out thunderstorms can lead to rapidly-changing conditions.