Fairbanks residents have been experiencing some unusual weather lately. Throughout most of the month of May pellet sized hail has been falling from the skies over Fairbanks, a phenomenon officials said was very strange.

Fairbanks's Don Aycock, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said a combination of cumulus clouds and cold temperatures are responsible for producing many of the hail events.

Temperatures were reported to have dropped below freezing at 3,200 feet on Thursday. Cloud cover topped out at 10,000 feet.

The result of this weather system is the formation of snow pellets as moisture in the clouds freezes and remains frozen by the time it hits the ground. Thus hail falls instead of rain.