Southern Alberta cleaning up again after being pounded by heavy rain, hail
On Sunday, the Cardston area, about 90 minutes southeast of Calgary, was pummelled by heavy rain and hail the size of tennis balls that smashed windows, dented vehicles, snapped large tree branches and destroyed crops.
The storm began around 8 p.m. and lasted about 20 minutes.
View image in full screen
On Monday, residents of Cardston, Ab., were cleaning up from a nasty storm on Sunday that pummeled the area with tennis ball sized hail. Global News
Trevor Jones, manager of operations for Carstar, a local auto repair shop, said a lot of vehicles were so severely damaged they can't be driven until they're repaired.
Story continues below advertisement
'Numbers are still climbing as of 10:00 this morning (Monday, July 28). One of the insurers had 50 claims already and that's within a two-hour period. I fully expect that to grow exponentially over the next few days,' added Jones.
'A large amount of the town has received damage and outside in surrounding areas, too.'
View image in full screen
Broken windows, dented vehicles and destroyed crops are just some of the damage caused by a nasty storm that pummeled the Cardston, Ab. area on Sunday with ping pong ball sized hail. Global News
The storm also devastated some area farms.
Get daily National news
Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
Kyle Nish lost about 3,000 acres of crops.
'The other day I was walking out to the middle and I was walking in spots where it was hitting me in the chest, and it was a nice crop out here. I was excited for harvest, you know, looking forward to it — and then in 15 minutes it's just gone.'
Story continues below advertisement
Nish said some of his tractors and other equipment were also damaged by the hail.
'I know this was definitely golf ball and bigger,' added Nish.
View image in full screen
A huge storm cell that moved through the Milo, Ab. area, about 9. Stephen Thor
In Calgary, while there were no reports of serious hail damage, there was another deluge of heavy rain as thunderstorms rolled through the city during the busy Monday morning commute.
According to Environment Canada, there has been 139.6 mm of rain that has fallen on the city so far this July — although some volunteer weather stations from the Bowness area have recorded 184 mm of rainfall this month.
The record for July in Calgary is 245.4 mm, set in 1927. In 2016, the national weather service said 206 mm of rainfall fell.
View image in full screen
Calgary police are investigating after this car ended up submerged in a waterlogged ditch on Monday morning. There was nobody inside when emergency crews arrived. Global News
On Monday afternoon, a large swath of southern Alberta, stretching from Calgary to the Montana border and east to Medicine Hat, was again placed under a severe thunderstorm watch, with Environment Canada meteorologists warning about the possibility of hail up to five cm in diameter and wind gusts of over 100 km/h.
Story continues below advertisement
However, there is some relief for rain-weary residents in the forecast.
Environment Canada forecasts a warm front to start moving into the province late Monday and by Wednesday the forecast high for Calgary is 27 C, while in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat it will be around 30 C.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
3 hours ago
- Global News
Funnel cloud spotted, lightning strikes condo building as storms moved over Edmonton
Rain, storms and lightning were experienced across most of Alberta on Sunday, bringing funnel clouds and landspout tornadoes with them. 'They were generally very slow-moving thunderstorms, which kind of stands in sharp contrast to maybe your average severe weather day in Alberta,' said Eric Van Lochem, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. Sunday was marked by heavy rainfall of up to 100mm, dreary weather and a series of storms — some of which persisted into Monday. According to Environment Canada, multiple funnel clouds were confirmed across the province, as well as a landspout tornado in the Hardisty area. 'If you have a slow moving low-pressure system, lots of vorticity in the area, and you throw a thunderstorm — doesn't even have to be a strong thunderstorm — into that type of environment, you can get these funnel clouds that sometimes touch down,' Van Lochem explained. Story continues below advertisement 'But they're usually tornadoes that result tend to be weak and very brief. And that's basically what we saw transpire yesterday afternoon.' Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "But they're usually tornadoes that result tend to be weak and very brief. And that's basically what we saw transpire yesterday afternoon." Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy About 100 km southeast of Edmonton, a landspout was spotted bridging the ground to the sky. Environment Canada is still assessing the strength of the tornado but believes it was relatively weak, touching down in an isolated area. It came after funnel cloud advisories went out across parts of Alberta. People in the Edmonton region also spotted at least one funnel cloud forming over the southwest of the city. 'Lots of photos circulating on social media,' Van Lochem said, adding landspouts and funnel clouds like what was seen on Sunday were similar in nature, as opposed to the high-energy supercell storms that trigger more powerful tornadoes. 'Those are typically the thunderstorms that produce the very large, damaging tornadoes that you might see in the Midwest during the spring.' Environment Canada is still working to determine whether it was one or two separate funnel clouds over Edmonton. Lightning was also a factor in Sunday's weather. 'There were quite a few lightning strikes because the storms were quite widespread, covering a pretty good chunk of the province,' Van Lochem said. Story continues below advertisement An apartment building in the southwest Rutherford neighbourhood was hit and briefly caught on fire before crews put it out. On Monday, bits of plastic siding and charred wood were scattered on the ground below where the lightning struck. Area resident Alexander Yakavenka was in his home when he saw a flash of light. 'Great lightning, as for me, it looked like it was near my balcony. A couple of seconds later, it was strong,' Yakavenka said. The thunderstorms were slow-moving and headed to the northwest, as compared to the normal path of travel in Alberta, where we typically see storms form in the mountain foothills and move east across the Prairies. — With files from Noah Rishaug, Global News
Global News
6 hours ago
- Global News
Vancouver Island wildfire forces hundreds to evacuate, crews work to protect homes, Hwy. 4
The Wesley Ridge wildfire burning on Vancouver Island is now 511 hectares in size and still burning out of control. Madison Dahl with the B.C. Wildfire Service said that visibility is limited due to smoky conditions, however, and that the perimeter and size of the fire are likely to change. 'Today (Monday) on the wildfire, we have 164 personnel that includes ground firefighters and structural protection specialists and teams,' she said. 'There are eight pieces of heavy equipment, eight helicopters. We also have land-based air tankers and scammers assigned to the incident. Aviation resources are supporting operations as required. We have over 80 structure protection specialists assigned and responding to this incident.' Multiple fire departments are also helping tackle the blaze, including the Dashwood and Coombs fire departments. There are 387 residences on evacuation order due to the Wesley Ridge fire, which includes Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park, the day-use area and campground. There are 235 residences on evacuation alert, according to Christina Crabtree, the emergency operations director for the regional district of Nanaimo. Story continues below advertisement In addition, Cameron Lake, Horn Lake and Spider Lake are being utilized for water bucketing, Crabtree said. Little Qualicum River, Arrowsmith CPR Regional Trail and Meadowood Community Park are closed due to the fire. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'We have had many calls asking how (people) can provide support, and we are so grateful with the overwhelming support from the community,' Dahl said. 'The RDN (Regional District of Nanaimo) and fire departments, however, can't accept and deal with donations of food, clothing and goods at this time. So our suggestion is you may want to look through social media. There's a whole bunch of options where you can choose to donate and provide support, and we would ask that you go through those channels because we're not able to be able to accommodate.' 1:37 Wesley Ridge fire continues to impact community Dahl said one of the biggest priorities is to minimize growth toward Highway 4 and to keep the highway open and traffic moving. Story continues below advertisement 'The southern edge of the wildfire burning along Cameron Lake is burning in very tough and challenging terrain with large amounts of timber and large amounts of fuel available,' she said. 'Structure protection specialists, structure protection teams and crews are in place to protect properties and values situated along Cameron Lake. Aircraft continue to support ground operations, moving crews, dropping water, cooling the fire, and facilitating direct and indirect attack. We are going to continue to see smoke from the Wesley Ridge Wildfire as it consumes fuel and moves along the slope.' The B.C. government is warning drivers between Parksville and Port Alberni that sudden changes could occur along Highway 4 due to the wildfire. Traffic-control personnel are posted on Highway 4 at the Port Alberni Summit for eastbound traffic and Chatsworth Road for westbound traffic. At this time, Highway 4 remains open. Travellers should plan for extra time as any change to highway operation may cause delays. Travellers are not permitted to stop along Highway 4. The highway, a critical link for Vancouver Island communities, was closed on June 6, 2023, due to the Cameron Bluffs wildfire. With the road closed, coastal communities were left to rely on a treacherous multi-hour detour via an industrial logging road, limiting supplies and starving businesses and tour operators of revenue at a critical time of year. Story continues below advertisement It was closed for 17 days and cost businesses on the West Coast of the island an estimated $44 million, according to a survey.
Global News
8 hours ago
- Global News
Wildfire in eastern Newfoundland prompts evacuations in small communities
See more sharing options Send this page to someone via email Share this item on Twitter Share this item via WhatsApp Share this item on Facebook Residents of several small communities in eastern Newfoundland have been told to leave their homes as a 150-hectare wildfire continues to burn on the west side of Conception Bay. Just before 2 p.m. local time, the provincial government issued evacuation orders for the towns of Small Point–Adam's Cove–Blackhead–Broad Cove and Kingston. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The alert says the fire is about one kilometre from this group of communities. The province's Forestry Department says water bombers, helicopters and ground crews are assisting volunteer fire departments. Last night, the provincial department issued an alert about possible evacuations. At the time, the size of the fire was believed to be only 25 hectares. Provincial officials have set up a reception centre for displaced residents at the Persalvic School Complex in Victoria, N.L.
