Despite a severe weather warning for the Sundre region on Saturday, the storm that swept through the area did not cause any serious or extensive damage.
However, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada said lightning lit up the sky for almost two hours that evening.
“The real interesting weather was on Saturday,” said Kyle Fougère on Monday morning during a phone interview after confirming that some rain had also passed through the region on Friday night and later pointing out more precipitation and lightning was reported on Sunday.
“There was a lengthy lightning storm,” said Fougère about Saturday, adding there had been reports of severe weather.
The lightning, he said, started at about 5:30 p.m., with the last strikes ending at around 7:20 p.m.
Approximately 30-40 millimetres of rain fell in the Sundre area throughout that period of time, along with some pea- to dime-sized hail, he said.
Officials saw some photos of hail accumulation on Saturday just west of town; however, there were no reports of large stones that are capable of pummelling crops and causing serious property damage, he said.
But although Environment and Climate Change Canada does not categorize accumulation of hail as a severe weather event, such a buildup can nevertheless have an impact on agriculture, he said.
“We didn’t receive any reports on Sunday,” he continued, referring to hail.
“There were thunderstorms that moved through relatively quickly late Sunday afternoon and a few strikes in the area that evening.”
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s criteria to describe a weather event as extreme involves a combination of at least 50 millimetres of rain, hailstones that are larger than 20 millimetres, with winds stronger than 90 kilometres per hour, he said.
Although rainfall averages specific to Sundre were not available, he said the Calgary area typically receives an average of about 57 millimetres throughout August. While the month is technically not over, he added, “so far, it’s been, about 44 millimetres.”
The June average for Calgary is 86 millimetres, with this year’s total precipitation amounting to 117 millimetres, he said, while July’s average of 65 millimetres was also up a bit this year with 72 millimetres.
The Round Up did not hear back from Westland Insurance before press deadline regarding an inquiry about potential claims stemming from this weekend’s weather.
