When Matt Berry left Innisfail, Alta., Monday evening to drive north to Red Deer, the weather was “perfect,” he recalls.
But about 10 minutes later, shortly after 6pm, it was a completely different story. A storm rolled through the area, smashing large chunks of hail onto dozens of parked cars along the Queen Elizabeth II Highway.
Berry was just north of Innisfail near Antler Hill when it hit.
“The next thing I know my windshield just gave out and cracked and shattered,” he said in an interview with the Calgary Eyeopener.
“My windshield is absolutely destroyed … I was just scared that thing was going to come over me.”
He managed to pull over to the side of the road and waited out the storm. In all, it lasted 10 to 15 minutes, he said, but it left a mark.
According to the RCMP, 34 vehicles were damaged Monday, down from an earlier estimate of 70, while numerous people suffered minor injuries and three crashes were caused by the storm.
Matt Berry, one of several people caught in Monday’s hailstorm, says many good Samaritans stopped by damaged cars to see if anyone needed a ride. (Matt Berry)
Alberta Health Services public education officer Stuart Brideaux says local fire and EMS also attended the scene around 6:30 p.m. .
That’s good news, considering the size of the hail falling.
“We were all a little surprised to be honest … I’m pretty sure we’re probably going to set a new record in terms of mass,” said Julian Brimelow, executive director of Western University’s Northern Hail Project, a five-year study of year based in Alberta.
“We were getting reports of grapefruit-sized hail, softball hail…Typically on an exceptional day, we might have tennis ball-sized hail, six to seven centimeters. [Monday]we had many stones over 10 centimeters in diameter.”
Recapitulation of yesterday’s mission a
• Collected 7 baseball bags down to grapefruit sized hail
• 4 probes were deployed before the hail cores (2 with video) and all hit successfully
• Measure and package a 106 mm hail stone pic.twitter.com/j2Fxs2uUHQ
—@NHP_field
The team has taken their samples to a laboratory in Red Deer to confirm whether the hailstorms set a provincial record, or even a national one.
“As far as we can tell, the rocks had been on the ground for about 20 minutes before our team could get there. So there had been some melting,” he said. “I think it will be close.”
He’s not sure why the hail in this storm was much larger than usual, but he expects it may have something to do with an abundant amount of moisture near the ground Monday, which is not typical in Alberta.
Storm chaser Matt Melnyk says he loves taking pictures of major storms and comparing them to others because “you never see the same storm twice.” (Matt Melnyk)
This element, along with the usual storm ingredients, may have combined to give more fuel to the creation of hailstones.
Matt Melnyk, a storm chaser in Alberta, also wonders what caused the size of the hail. Went to Innisfail on Monday to assess and take photos of the storm.
“This particular storm had a very, very large rotating updraft that kept the hail inside the storm for a long period of time,” he said in an interview with CBC Calgary News at 6.
“It was extremely intense.”
LOOK | Storm chaser Matt Melnyk describes what it was like following Monday’s hail near Innisfail:
What Monday’s hail near Innisfail looked like from a storm chaser’s perspective
Storm chaser Matt Melnyk talks to CBC Calgary News 6 host Andrew Brown about Monday’s hail near Innisfail, Alta., and why he loves chasing powerful storms.
Brimelow says one of the reasons his team is so motivated to better understand these storms is because they know how they can affect people’s lives.
“Our hearts go out to these people because we understand how devastating it can be.”
The cleanup continued Tuesday
Geoff Tagg saw that devastation with his own eyes.
He is the owner of Tagg’s Extreme Towing Ltd. in Red Deer. His team was called to help north of Innisfail on Monday evening, and he believes dozens more cars were mangled by the storm.
“All hell was breaking loose … There were about 100, maybe a few more than that, up there with all kinds of damage,” he said.
“The windshields were just shattered. A couple of them looked like someone had hit the body in the front.”
Several towing companies pitched in to help get the cars off the road, Tagg said. They were at the scene until 3 a.m., and at least one company continued to work until Tuesday to remove the cars from the area.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada says it may not have estimates on insured losses for several weeks.
Melnyk says Alberta’s worst storms usually happen in the last two weeks of July and the first week of August. (Matt Melnyk)
But, if your vehicle is hit by hail, there are a number of steps you should take.
First, take photos of the damage from all angles, says Rob de Pruis, national director of consumer and industry relations for the Insurance Bureau of Canada.
Then contact your insurance agent and provide as many details as possible.
“The sooner you can get the claim, the better, but you have a two-year window to finalize everything related to your claim,” he said in an interview with CBC Edmonton News at 6.
You may want to purchase optional comprehensive coverage, de Pruis said, which covers hail, wind and water damage to your vehicle.
Monday’s hail left many cars damaged, but no one at the scene was seriously injured, AHS says. (Matt Berry)
If you pay any additional expenses, be sure to keep those receipts.
“If you are unable to drive your vehicle, if your vehicle is towed to the nearest repair facility, keep the receipt for that towing because it may also be covered under your insurance policy.”
Berry is one of several drivers who had their vehicle towed to a nearby lot. He received a ride home from his mother who lives nearby.
After the whole ordeal, he says he would advise anyone hitting the road to take weather warnings seriously and stay home if possible.
“I never would have guessed that this could have happened so quickly,” he said.
“It was crazy.”