Calgary under severe thunderstorm watch: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Posted Jun 30, 2023 11:32 am.
Last Updated Jun 30, 2023 4:02 pm.
Calgary could once again be in for some wicked storms, not even a day after the city was pelted with rain, peppered with hail, and in some cases, left without power or stuck under a flooded overpass.
After Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the city Friday morning, saying that “conditions are favourable for the development of dangerous thunderstorms” that have the ability to produce “strong wind gusts, damaging hail, and heavy rain.”
The city was issued a short-lived warning at 3:18 p.m., saying it can produce “very strong wind gusts, nickel to ping pong ball size hail and heavy rain,” which ended just before 4 p.m.
Sarah Hoffman, a meteorologist with ECCC, says the wind can gust up to 80 kilometres per hour, adding it may be harsher than Thursday’s storm.
“We’re expecting wind and hail to be a little bit more intense,” she told CityNews.
“The difference will be is if a thunderstorm makes direct contact or sort of a direct hit with the city like it did yesterday, it is possible that these storms will just sort of skirt the city and the majority could see nothing, or it could be another direct hit just like yesterday.”
The agency says the thunderstorm is near Priddis, southwest of Calgary, and is moving east at 35 km/h.
WATCH: Severe thunderstorm stirs chaos in Calgary
ECCC says there is also a small chance of a tornado along the central foothills.
The agency is reminding the public that very large hail can damage property, break windows, dent vehicles and cause serious injury. Strong wind gusts can toss loose objects, damage weak buildings, break branches off trees and overturn large vehicles. Additionally, severe thunderstorms can produce tornadoes while heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads.
Read more: Thunderstorm warning in Calgary ends, some areas experiencing flash flooding: ECCC
ECCC explains that severe thunderstorm watches are issued when atmospheric conditions are favourable for the development of thunderstorms that could produce one or more of the following: large hail, damaging winds, and torrential rainfall.
It’s clean up day in #Calgary but there’s a chance it could be short lived…
Some more thunderstorms are a strong possibility over the next few days. @citynewscalgary #yyc #CalgaryStorm pic.twitter.com/7JB8toXCFC
— Logan Stein (@L0ganStein) June 30, 2023
People are asked to immediately take cover if threatening weather approaches.
“Take cover immediately, if threatening weather approaches. Lightning kills and injures Canadians every year. Remember, when thunder roars, go indoors,” the agency said.
Calgary also remains under a heat warning as temperatures near or above 29 C combined with overnight lows near 14 C continue.
Hoffman says there has been a stable pattern with the weather, but cool air moving in from the west is “destabilizing the air mass over us.”
“We are expecting a couple of days in a row here of the possibility of some severe thunderstorms affecting the majority of Alberta,” she said.
“It’s basically down to pretty normal, summertime weather for us. Alberta and the prairies, in general, is no stranger to thunderstorms, and this can happen, especially at this time of year.”
Temperatures are expected to moderate over the weekend.
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-With files from Tiffany Goodwein
