Young Ollie Anderson-Roe was enjoying himself while his dad, Mark Anderson, told the Times-Age his back garden was under water but he welcomed the downpour.
"It's amazing. We needed this rain," he said.
Masterton Farmers store closed for about five minutes when power was cut to the shop.
Gutters at the store's front and rear had too much water to handle, causing some flooding in-store, said managing director Rod McDermott.
"The volume of rain was such the gutter couldn't cope," Mr McDermott said.
MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey said the hail was not unexpected.
"We were forecasting heavy showers with hail from Tuesday and the risk of thunderstorms was upgraded today," he said.
The storm was caused by a build up of cold air in the upper atmosphere. It was moving over the east side of the country, Mr Glassey said.
"There's still quite a few showers in the region ... but they are clearing."
Once they had disappeared overnight last night, the weather was forecast to be fine until early next week.
Farmers in Greytown, where no hail had been reported, were thankful for the rainfall.
Jamie van Vliet at JR's Orchards, in Papawai, said she was pleased the skies had opened.
"I'm hoping that the ground soaks it all up ... we are happy farmers today."
At lunchtime yesterday, vineyards in Martinborough reported the odd drop of rain, but no hail.
Te Kairanga Wines chief winemaker John Kavanagh said he was hoping it would stay dry.
"We haven't had a spot of rain. We are still dry as ... the drier the better."
Meanwhile, the Masterton District Council had received about a "dozen calls" from residents concerned about surface flooding, said council spokesman Sam Rossiter-Stead.
"They were mainly to do with minor flooding on intersections but nothing too serious at this stage," he said.
Council workers would be out during the next few days, clearing away debris left behind, Mr Rossiter-Stead said.
