Maybe Huntington Beach should be renamed Snow City.

Or, if you want to be technical, Hail City.

A cold snap early Monday led to hail pelting the city’s downtown, shocking locals and visitors alike and briefly making the beach look like a ski resort.

And that was just one version of the weather Monday in Orange County.

Lightning flashed too. So did rain. And sun. And, later in the day, more rain. There was even talk of water spouts along the coasts.

But the big talker was the hail, which started 10:15 am. in Huntington Beach and ended about 20 minutes later.

“Everyone is freaking out,” said Sumo Sato, a surfer who was in Huntington Surf and Sport and barefoot when the hail started to fall.

“Main and PCH are packed with snow.”

But the air was cold enough – about 40 degrees — that the hail didn’t melt immediately. Within minutes, Huntington Beach Pier was covered in piles of hail, and cars and people downtown were slipping around in the streets.

“It’s just freaky,” Sato said.

The Internet soon was abuzz with photos and videos of the hail, and “snow in Huntington Beach” spent part of the day as a top trending phrase on Twitter.

That phrase was slightly off. Mike Watkins, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, said the pea-sized pellets that fell were actually hail, not snow. In all, he said, about a half-inch of hail fell, much of it sticking on the streets and beach for long enough for people to make ankle-high snowpeople.

Huntington Beach Marine Safety Lt. Mike Beuerlein could recall only three other times he’d seen the sand turn white in his 34 years of working in the department.

“I don’t know where the line is between hail and snow, but it sure looks like snow to me,” he said. “It’s surprising and amazing every time it happens.”

“It was almost like Christmas morning,” he added.

Zak Grove, a 14-year-old from Huntington Beach, laid down on the beach and made a sandy snow angel.

Sato posed for a photo behind the bronze statue of Duke Kahanamoku, who had hail at his feet. Kelly Kraushaar, who works at surf forecast company Surfline, posted a photo tossing the hail to the sky.

“No sunscreen required today on the beach,” surfer Mike Ester wrote on Facebook. “You can substitute a surfboard for a snowboard! Chains required on Main St.”

But the hail, which most people said was fun, was accompanied by lightning, which can be deadly.

Minutes before the hail hit in Huntington Beach, lightning was spotted near Long Beach and believed to be moving south, first near the Huntington Beach Pier and then closer to Newport Beach.

The lightning sightings prompted lifeguards in Newport Beach to drive on the sand and ask people to get out of the water and leave the beach. Lifeguard Capt. Boyd Mickley said the voluntary evacuation is a precautionary move any time there’s lightning near his city.

“Lightning is unpredictable,” Mickley said. “And if it’s within a 10-mile radius, the next strike can be where you’re standing. You never know.”

Most people complied, through some lingered under the Newport Beach pier until the rain stopped. Mickley said the advisory was cleared at 11:16 a.m.

As hail and lightning hit the beach area, a brief rain shower extended inland, dropping about a tenth of an inch as far north as Fullerton.

But the rain ended quickly, and briefly was followed by blue skies punctuated with puffy white clouds. Rainbows were spotted from many spots of Orange County. For a time, the temperature in Santa Ana rose into the mid-70s.

By late afternoon, the weather shifted yet again. Temperatures dropped again and the National Weather Service issued an advisory warning of water spouts hitting county beaches, though none were spotted.

Watkins said more showers are expected over Southern California. Other areas south of Los Angeles could see hail come down, and a winter warning was in effect until 4 p.m. Monday.

Local mountains were expected to get snow through today, falling as low as 4,500 feet and up to 6 inches at about 5,000 feet elevation and 6 to 8 inches above 6,000 feet. The storm will bring a few smaller showers along the coast through Tuesday morning, before clearing out Wednesday.

Weather Service forecasts say temperatures will rise, and by Friday could hit 80 in some parts of Orange County.

Contact the writer: lconnelly@ocregister.com