On Tuesday, a massive hailstorm hit Alberta, a western province in Canada. It was reported by CBC News that the hailstorm was caused when a tornado hit the ground near the town of Coronation. Fortunately, despite the sudden storm, no serious injuries that required hospitalisation were reported.
However, what made Tuesday’s hailstorm unique was that it appeared suddenly with tennis ball-sized hail stones. The intense storm that lasted for about 15 to 20 minutes caused much damage to vehicles. As per Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the hail damaged 34 vehicles and caused three collisions.
After the storm subdued, people took to Twitter to post pictures and videos of the freak weather incident. Many people shared chilling videos that showed how the hail stones crashed through their car’s windshields as people inside the vehicle covered their heads with their hands or purses.
A collection of large hailstones from out by Markerville Aug.1/22
Forgot my caliper so brought some home to measure. Largest is 75mm and 106g, smallest 51mm,51g. After some meltage. #abstorm @Albatrossoar @NHP_Reports pic.twitter.com/T74EeUnbtM— Pat Boomer (@ABfoothillsWX) August 2, 2022
Got stuck in the huge hail storm at the bottom of Antler Hill between #reddeer and #Innisfail. Thankfully it’s just the vehicle that got damaged. Crazy stuff to experience though. #abstorm pic.twitter.com/3hLnJDhEK7
— Matt Berry (@MattBear3135) August 2, 2022
Now is a good time to give thanks to the people who put plastic in windshields, and made windshields obligatory on insurance.
That must have been pretty crazy!— 🌻our lady of the cow parsley (@ladycowparsley) August 2, 2022
I was caught in it, too. My windshield and car interior looked like yours & my hatchback window was smashed right out. Grabbed a towel off my passenger seat and covered my face and bare legs…I was terrified. The noise – never gone through anything like that & hope never again. pic.twitter.com/Kszb9aD63E
— Vanda Killeen (@VandaKilleen) August 3, 2022
#abstorm my heart goes out to all the ppl stranded along the QE2 outside of Reddeer. Vehicles are completely totalled with ppl stranded. Windows and lights smashed out. Vehicles covered in hail dents:( pic.twitter.com/gWKFfMNatL
— Miranda (@MLCrabtree_) August 2, 2022
Up to softball-sized hail reported in Markerville and Innisfail areas during August 1st storm https://t.co/ZcYqLLwFqn pic.twitter.com/XZXPauiqCi
— rdnewsNOW (@rdnewsNOW) August 2, 2022
Met a very shaken up family at thw McDonald’s in Innisfail who got caught in the hail. Every one is ok, and they were very nice to let me take photos. 8:10pm. #abstorm pic.twitter.com/gxbkNaDIHx
— T.L. Carmody (@trishcarm) August 2, 2022
#abstorm last night 5km south of gasoline alley, horrible 17 minutes pic.twitter.com/15HBfcB7cp
— Gibran Marquez (@GibranMarquez7) August 2, 2022
my God 😔🙏🏻.
I never want to experience that and will always try and monitor weather radars if out in a storm or chasing.
I understand sometimes you cannot avoid it though. 😕I really really hope everyone is ok. pic.twitter.com/FdOIL3nT2i
— 🇨🇦 Corey (with a “c”, and an “e”.) (@_CoreyRobertson) August 2, 2022
I can’t even. I panic took this without putting it in the ruler properly 😂. Tennis balls when it was NW of Markerville 17:40. They’re still coming down. Stay clear. #abstorm pic.twitter.com/TpGJCUD6ZM
— Mhairi (@Mahairy93) August 2, 2022
Sharing pictures of their damaged car, a Twitter user wrote, “Got stuck in the huge hail storm at the bottom of Antler Hill between #reddeer and #Innisfail. Thankfully it’s just the vehicle that got damaged. Crazy stuff to experience though. #abstorm”.
Pat Boomer, a weather enthusiast and storm chaser shared pictures of the large hail stones against a measuring device and wrote, “A collection of large hailstones from out by Markerville Aug.1/22 Forgot my caliper so brought some home to measure. Largest is 75mm and 106g, smallest 51mm,51g. After some meltage. #abstorm @Albatrossoar @NHP_Reports”.