OUR WILD WEATHER IS ‘NORMAL’
Recent storms to be expected: Expert
Severe weather in Calgary and region has already caused billions of dollars in damage, but this year’s storm season has been pretty average, says a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
“I don’t see this as being a remarkable year so far, in terms of the weather we’ve had, but the weather has really affected people this year. The tennis ball- and grapefruit-sized hail on June 13 was certainly a rare event for the City of Calgary — it hasn’t had that sized hailstones in a long time — but for southern Alberta as a whole, hail is a normal part of the climatology and a few days per year we see grapefruit-sized hail in southern Alberta,” Dan Kulak, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, said by phone on Thursday.
“So it isn’t a rare event because it recurs multiple times per year on average. But it becomes a question of where that grapefruit-sized hail is going to hit, and most of the time it’s in areas where there’s not a lot of infrastructure, it’s not in the cities or towns. It’ll usually be in a farmer’s field or a wide-open space.”
Environment Canada issued another severe thunderstorm watch for Calgary on Thursday afternoon.
The most significant weather event this season was the hailstorm June 13. The storm shredded siding on houses and smashed windshields of vehicles in Calgary’s northeast. According to Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc., the storm has become the fourth costliest weather event in Canada’s history, causing about $1.2 billion in damage.
Other storms have battered Calgary and region with more hail, rain, lightning and tornado warnings.
“There’s a lower probability that the area of Calgary — a small circle in the middle of hundreds of kilometres of southern Alberta — is going to have so many storms form right over top of that circle. But these are the types of storms that we see in southern Alberta every year,” said Kulak.
“If those storms had been five kilometres to the east, outside Calgary, then we wouldn’t have a $1.2-billion event.”
The Calgary area does make for perfect storm conditions, with high elevation winds from the mountains, cold winds from the north and humidity from the south. But it’s all about location — where a storm hits or a tornado touches down, which is different year to year.
Storm chaser Darren Howard said he started the storm season by witnessing a tornado southeast of Irracana on May 31, and has responded to more weather alerts and warnings than usual.
“Calgary wasn’t the only place that got hit with severe hail on June 13. It’s all about placement. If the storm was to the east then it would have struck an area that was less populated,” said Howard, referring to massive hailstones he saw north of Brooks.
This storm season has seen eight confirmed tornadoes and three more that are still being investigated by Environment Canada. The first tornado was quite early in the season on May 20, and the most recent four all occurred Tuesday evening.
The tornadoes on Tuesday touched down east of Keoma, west of Acme, west of Trochu and north of Brooks, though no damage has been reported. Kulak said tornadoes often happen in multiples when they touch down in Alberta.
On Sunday evening, a tornado emergency alert was issued for the City of Calgary, which is unusual, said Kulak.
“That’s the first one in a number of years but we know these things happen, it’s just a matter of where they’re going to be,” he said.
“People need to be prepared for whatever weather they might get. There will be more stormy days, more nice days and more rainy days but, in the long run, it’s all about knowing what to do in any weather event. Have a plan for tornadoes, have a plan for big storms, but also keep in mind that lightning kills more Canadians in an average year and be prepared for lightning storms, too.”
If those storms had been five kilometres to the east, outside Calgary, then we wouldn’t have a $1.2-billion event.