Severe thunderstorms cause major damage and airport closures in Calgary, Canada

Severe thunderstorms swept through Calgary, Alberta, Canada on the night of Monday, August 5, 2024, causing extensive damage and closing parts of Calgary International Airport. Hail as large as toonies battered northern areas of the city, leading to dented roofs, shattered windows, and flooded streets.

Parts of the Calgary International Airport remained closed on the morning of Tuesday, August 6, after multiple severe thunderstorms in the Calgary region set off emergency alerts the previous evening.

The wild weather hit northern areas of Calgary especially hard, leaving a trail of dented roofs, shredded siding, and flooded streets.

The storms could produce powerful wind gusts, “baseball-size or greater hail,” and torrential rain, Environment Canada said in multiple warnings, which had all ended by Tuesday.

Images and videos circulating online showed hail the size of toonies and larger. Toonie is a Canadian two-dollar coin with a diameter of 28 mm (1.1 inches).

Many other reports showed hail had caused heavy damage to siding, windows, and skylights in various parts of the city. Vehicles were also damaged, with windshields smashed and bodies dented.

Entire lawns were seen carpeted in hail, as if snow-covered. Many reports of property damage were logged with Calgary police, a spokesman told Postmedia on Tuesday morning, mainly from neighborhoods in northern parts of the city.

The storm on Monday night caused heavy damage to the roof and siding at the home of Redstone resident Josiah Chinedu. After receiving an emergency alert and moving his vehicle into the garage, he took cover inside as the hail approached.

“It sounded like a train; it was that bad,” he told Postmedia on Tuesday morning. “Past 20:00 local time (LT), it started hailing, a little bigger than tennis ball size. It was so crazy that the kids were screaming. We had to tell them everything was going to be alright. It was very scary, to say the least.” Chinedu’s home was also battered by the June 2020 hailstorm, which at the time was the costliest such event in Canadian history.

Social media also posted videos showing the dramatic situation at the international airport. The strong hailstorm significantly damaged the terminal building, causing the closure of parts of the building and delays for over 80 scheduled flights. Some flights were also canceled.

Two airport gates (A and B) are closed until further notice. “For the safety of our guests and employees, the authority decided to evacuate and close B gates and some C gates at approximately 20:45 LT on August 5. Our teams continue to monitor the situation and assess the extent of damage,” read a statement from the airport.

On Monday evening, Environment Canada meteorologists were tracking a severe thunderstorm and issued storm warnings for various regions in south-central Alberta. At around 20:00 LT, an Alberta Emergency Alert was issued for the City of Calgary and other southern areas, warning of torrential rainfall and potentially baseball-sized hail.

References:

¹ Hailstorm havoc: Calgary airport and Alberta battered by cricket ball-sized hail – MSN – August 7, 2024

² Hail damage reported at many homes and Calgary airport after storms pummel region – Calgary Herald – August 5, 2024

Rishav Kothari

I am an Assistant Editor and Severe Weather & Science Journalist at The Watchers, specializing in real-time severe weather coverage, geophysical event reporting, and research-driven scientific analysis. You can reach me at rishav(at)watchers(.)news.

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