Photos: Hailstorm hammers Sacramento Monday afternoon, covers city with inches of ice

Traffic was nearly brought to a halt in Sacramento on Monday afternoon as a hailstorm coated the city with inches of hail.

Many of the hailstones were smaller than pennies, but the hardest-hit areas had hail accumulate several inches on roads in less than an hour.

Traffic was brought to a crawl with some vehicles pulling off to the side of the road due to the dangerous driving conditions.

Sacramento Fire crews asked drivers to avoid some roads across the city after vehicles became stuck in the deep ice.

The thunderstorm responsible for the plethora of hail moved right over downtown Sacramento shortly after 1 p.m. PST Monday.

Hail accumulations on I-5 and I-80 slowed traffic as drivers cautiously drove through inches of ice. Some people on social media compared the ice-covered roads to conditions usually seen during major snowstorms.

"There were also a couple thunderstorms that spawned funnel clouds north of Sacramento Monday afternoon," AccuWeather Meteorologist Jordan Root said.

The hailstorm was a result of a storm system moving over California, spreading rain and mountain snow across the state.

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