K-Days, Taste of Edmonton halted after thunderstorms blow through

Festivals and LRT service were temporarily shuttered Friday evening as wind gusts, rain and hail battered Edmonton, St. Albert and Sherwood Park.

Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm warning at 4:27 p.m. but lifted it around 5:20 p.m. Friday.

Threats of hail and strong winds hovered over the city into the evening.

Winds were tracked as fast as 80 km/h in downtown Edmonton, said Environment Canada meteorologist Terri Lang Friday evening.

There was no tornado threat Friday evening, she added.

Localized flooding was reported in some areas in the city, as well as hail up to the size of golf balls.

Severe thunderstorm warnings are issued when imminent or occurring thunderstorms are likely to produce or are producing one or more of the following: large hail, damaging winds, torrential rainfall.

K-DAYS RIDES SUSPENDED

At K-Days, which kicked off Friday, all rides were stopped late in the afternoon because of the storm.

Northlands staff ushered fairgoers inside the Expo Centre, said Carson Mills, communications manager for Northlands.

Some rides reopened around 6:45 p.m. and people were permitted outside.

Taste of Edmonton on the Alberta legislature grounds announced it was closed for the evening around 5:20 p.m.

Similarly, Interstellar Rodeo shut down around 6 p.m. and asked festivalgoers to stay under the canopy.

BROKEN CROSSING ARM HALTS LRT SERVICE

LRT service between the Southgate and Century Park stations was halted from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., said City of Edmonton spokeswomen Lori Yanish.

Buses were used to provide transit between stations while LRT service was suspended.

The outage happened when a raised crossing arm at 40 Avenue and 111 Street cracked and broke in the wind, falling on a power line and affecting the LRT, said Edmonton Fire Rescue spokeswoman Claire Graff.

Fire services also responded to a number of downed power lines and trees around the city.

Power outages affected neighbourhoods including Ottewell in the east, Athlone in the northwest and industrial areas in the southeast.