Terror rained from Alberta skies in the form of hailstones Monday with the storm producing the largest hailstone ever documented in Canada..Environment and Climate Change Canada said Wednesday the balls of hail that fell in central Alberta ranged from "the size of peas, dimes, nickels, golf balls, hen eggs, tennis balls, baseballs and softballs.".Videos from the storm was posted on social media by drivers on Queen Elizabeth II Highway getting pelted with grapefruit-size hail as it smashed vehicles. According to the Alberta RCMP, more that 30 vehicles were damaged.. Hail horrorHaiil horror .A group that researches hailstorms in Canada said a hailstone was found in Markerville, AB that weighed a record-breaking 293 grams, which is roughly a little more than a half pound — the largest ever recorded in Canada..The record-breaker weighs 292.71 grams, eclipsing the previous title holder — a hailstone weighing 290 grams, collected nearly 50 years ago in Cedoux, Sask. on July 31, 1973..With a diameter of 123 millimetres, the hailstone has a slightly larger span than a standard DVD (120 mm).. Hail horror2Hail horror2 .The Northern Hail Project (NHP), founded in 2022 as a partnership between Western University and ImpactWX, aims to improve knowledge of damaging hail storms and better detect hail occurrence across Canada..“Some colleagues and I maintain a national database of really large hail from around the world and before the Monday event, there were only 21 hailstones documented that weigh more than 290 grams,” Dr. Julian Brimelow, executive director of the NHP said..Led by Francis Lavigne-Theriault, the NHP field team followed a storm to Markerville — about 35 km southwest of Red Deer — and found several baseball-sized hailstones..The team traveled farther south approximately 20 minutes after the storm passed (6:14 pm MDT) and recovered several larger hailstones under a tree canopy, many of which were grapefruit to softball-size including the record breaker..Lavigne-Theriault and the team ultimately collected seven bags at the aforementioned location, all of which are baseball-sized hail or larger (at least 70 millimetres or 2.75 inches in diameter). The samples are currently being stored in a freezer..“It wasn’t until I returned and started sifting through the bags that I found the record-breaking stone,” said Lavigne-Theriault..“It was bagged with other stones without realizing what we had in our possession!”
Terror rained from Alberta skies in the form of hailstones Monday with the storm producing the largest hailstone ever documented in Canada..Environment and Climate Change Canada said Wednesday the balls of hail that fell in central Alberta ranged from "the size of peas, dimes, nickels, golf balls, hen eggs, tennis balls, baseballs and softballs.".Videos from the storm was posted on social media by drivers on Queen Elizabeth II Highway getting pelted with grapefruit-size hail as it smashed vehicles. According to the Alberta RCMP, more that 30 vehicles were damaged.. Hail horrorHaiil horror .A group that researches hailstorms in Canada said a hailstone was found in Markerville, AB that weighed a record-breaking 293 grams, which is roughly a little more than a half pound — the largest ever recorded in Canada..The record-breaker weighs 292.71 grams, eclipsing the previous title holder — a hailstone weighing 290 grams, collected nearly 50 years ago in Cedoux, Sask. on July 31, 1973..With a diameter of 123 millimetres, the hailstone has a slightly larger span than a standard DVD (120 mm).. Hail horror2Hail horror2 .The Northern Hail Project (NHP), founded in 2022 as a partnership between Western University and ImpactWX, aims to improve knowledge of damaging hail storms and better detect hail occurrence across Canada..“Some colleagues and I maintain a national database of really large hail from around the world and before the Monday event, there were only 21 hailstones documented that weigh more than 290 grams,” Dr. Julian Brimelow, executive director of the NHP said..Led by Francis Lavigne-Theriault, the NHP field team followed a storm to Markerville — about 35 km southwest of Red Deer — and found several baseball-sized hailstones..The team traveled farther south approximately 20 minutes after the storm passed (6:14 pm MDT) and recovered several larger hailstones under a tree canopy, many of which were grapefruit to softball-size including the record breaker..Lavigne-Theriault and the team ultimately collected seven bags at the aforementioned location, all of which are baseball-sized hail or larger (at least 70 millimetres or 2.75 inches in diameter). The samples are currently being stored in a freezer..“It wasn’t until I returned and started sifting through the bags that I found the record-breaking stone,” said Lavigne-Theriault..“It was bagged with other stones without realizing what we had in our possession!”
